HEADLINE

- Canada's U19 Women's National Team fell in a heartbreaking semi-final 77-70 loss against Spain at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Madrid, Spain, on Saturday. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

- It was a tight game throughout the first quarter, as both teams traded baskets and Canada faced a loud Spanish crowd. Marah Dykstra made a layup to tie the game at nine with 6:53 left in the first. 

- Spain took a small lead in the following minutes, going up 15-9, but Team Canada responded when Syla Swords was left open and made a three to put them within one point.

- Canada was down by eight points after Spain went on a 9-0 run, but four quick points from Toby Fournier helped Canada cut the lead. At the end of the first quarter, Canada was down 26-22.

- The game remained back and forth throughout the second quarter. A steal by Delaney Gibb at 7:56 caused Fournier to get fouled and go to the free-throw line, where she put Canada within one point.   

- With two minutes until halftime, Fournier set up Gibb to make a three and once again cut the lead to one point. One minute later, Gibb grabbed the offensive rebound from her missed shot and made an easy layup tying the game at 36. 

- Going into the third quarter, the Canadians were down 40-36. Quickly into the quarter, Fournier made a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound to make it a two-point game. However, Canada went on an almost four-minute scoring drought, and Spain extended their lead to nine points. 

- T'yana Todd ended the drought after scoring a layup with 3:47 left in the quarter, but the Canadians remained out of rhythm. At the end of the third, Spain led 58-47.

- In the fourth, Canada slowly began to shrink the lead. Fournier made a layup and was fouled on the play. She made the extra point and cut Spain’s lead to 10 points. 

- Gibb scored back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to six points with 5:31 left in the game. Canada got the game within one point after a layup by Mary-Anna Asare at 2:05, but the Canadians couldn’t grab the lead. 

CANADA HIGHLIGHTS

- Canada was down by four points with six seconds left in the game, Fournier made an easy layup coming out of the timeout to put Canada within two points. She finished with a team-high 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. 

- After a sloppy pass from Spain mid-way through the second quarter, Jasmine Bascoe stole the ball and sped past her defender to make a tough layup where she got fouled. Bascoe put Canada within one, and the play helped maintain Canada’s energy until halftime.

- Canada shot 80 per cent from the free throw line in a game where they needed it most. It’s the team’s best free throw percentage in this tournament. 

QUOTABLE‍

“Our team absolutely battled their butts off and left it all on the floor in a really, really challenging environment. It was very loud, Spain is a great team that we played against, and we had a chance to take the lead in the last minute, so I don’t think there’s much more you can ask for in a game like that.” – Team Canada head coach Carly Clarke on the positives from the game. 

“Right now, it's about working through this one and waking up tomorrow being ready to go and reminding ourselves what we came here to do and hopefully finish it all off on a win.” – Clarke on the message for Sunday’s bronze medal game.

HISTORY FILE

- Canada will play in the third-place game for only the third time in the country’s history at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup.

NEXT UP

- Canada will have a chance to take home the bronze medal when they face France in the third-place game on Sunday. 

- Canada is 3-2 against France all-time in the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup. The two last battled each other in 2021, when Canada won 79-72. 

- Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30 pm ET / 9:30 am PT and fans can stream the game live on Sportsnet NOW.