LIEPAJA, LATVIA (July 16, 2018) - Team Canada's U17 women fell 87-56 to the USA national team in an exhibition game ahead of the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2018.

Canada was led by Donna Ntambue, who scored a game-high 18 points and secured five rebounds in the loss. Merissah Russell also had a strong game for the red and white, chipping in 15 points. The USA was led by Jordan Horston, who put up a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds.

Click here for the full box score.

Canada did well defending the USA from beyond the arc in the opening quarter, but nine early points from Horston gave the USA a 26-13 lead heading into the second.

Canada's bench helped keep them in the game early in the second quarter as the USA continued to falter from three-point territory, but consistent scoring in the paint allowed the USA a 49-29 lead heading into the half.

The second half was much of the same for the red and white. Canada defended the perimeter well but had trouble stopping the USA's scoring and rebounding in the paint. Team USA went into the fourth quarter with a 67-44 lead and eventually went on to take the 87-56 victory.

QUOTES

"We are so happy to have had three high quality games and opponents to help us prepare for Belarus. Our rebounding improved over the course of the game and we were able to control the tempo of the games for large stretches of time. We still need to be better, but the goal is improvement each game, which we did today." - Head coach Jodi Gram

"We tried to play quickly, get fouls, and see the post. In the fourth quarter we really just tried to set the pace and get into our own rhythm. We did well in the fourth quarter, but we were missing that same intensity in the second and third. But games like today get us ready for the tournament. We just try to see each other and play off one another on both ends of the floor." - Donna Ntambue

UP NEXT

The Canadian U17 Women's National Team will now move on to participate in the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 where they will take on Latvia in their opening matchup.

For the latest updates on Team Canada and the U17 Women's National team, follow Canada Basketball on Twitter.

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