MINSK, BELARUS (July 25, 2018) - Team Canada were defeated by Spain 72-50 in the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 Round of 16 on Wednesday and advanced to the class 9-16 games.

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Merissah Russell led the team in points against Spain with 9 shooting 33% while grabbing 5 rebounds, assisting on 2 buckets and stealing the ball once in her 28 minutes played.  Merissah led the team not only in points, she also led in minutes played, contributing in every way she could to the team.

Pushing the pace against Spain early on gave Canada lots of opportunities offensively and forced Spain to commit several turnovers.  Despite Canada's fast paced play, Spain were able to rally back midway through the first quarter and push themselves to a 14-12 lead going into the second quarter.

Spain locked down defensively in the second quarter, slowing Canada down and not allowing them to get their first basket until 5 minutes into the quarter.  Spain continued to intercept Canada's opportunities throughout the rest of the quarter, keeping Canada to only scoring 6 points in the quarter and going into the third quarter leading 35-18.

Canada strung together baskets early in the third quarter to bring Spain's lead down to 12.  Going into the final quarter of play, Canada trailed 49-35.  Spain held on in the final quarter to take the victory 72-50.

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QUOTES

"Some of the hardest lessons are learned the most heartbreaking ways.  It wasn't the outcome we wanted but the past must teach and guide our future.  Our focus has been rewired to work on the team and our drive to keep pushing for the Canada on our chests as we continue to battle down a different path" - Aerial Wilson

"Unfortunately we were not the better team today, and Spain deserves to walk away with the win.  While this is definitely disappointing, we still have 3 games to get ready for and we plan to rediscover our sense of pride and playing for each other to end the tournament strongly" - Jodi Gram

UP NEXT

With this defeat, Canada will advance to the Class 9-16 games of the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 where they will play either USA or Colombia.  

To stay updated on the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2018, follow Canada Basketball on twitter.

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