GUANAJUATO, MEXICO (August 23, 2021) - Canada secured a huge 82-56 win to open up the FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship 2021 on Monday afternoon.

"This is definitely a really great start against a really big team," said head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "I thought today was a great start to the tournament."

Canada led Brazil for for all but 17 seconds in the game, coming up big on defence to log a total of 31 defensive rebounds and 18 steals which helped Canada create a 22-point lead at halftime.

"I thought we did a great job at pushing the tempo today and I'm just really excited," said Jean-Paul. "We want the little moments to grow into bigger moments, which I know we'll do as we get more comfortable playing together."

Cassandre Prosper led the way for Canada with an outstanding 24 point performance in her national team debut. Prosper added 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in the win. Delaney Gibb was also major contributor for Canada on both ends of the court, adding 14 points and 7 rebounds.

"We were executing well on both offence and defence," said Prosper postgame. "I think we were playing really well together and did the right things to get a big lead in the first half."

Canada is back in action tomorrow at 12:30PM ET for their second game of the Group Phase against Costa Rica.

All games at the FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship 2021 are streamed live and free on the FIBA YouTube Channel. FIBA U16 Women's Americas Championship 2021 in Guanajuato, Mexico runs until August 29th.