(TORONTO, ON) - The U19 Women's National Team earned their first victory, beating Mali 71-62. This was their first game at the FIBA World Championship in Chekhov, Russia.

"It was good to get our first win. Mali was very athletic and played competitively the whole game. We just couldn't lose them. We got up and they kept fighting back. We just have to rebound the ball better if we're going to be successful against France and Belgium," said Head Coach Rich Chambers.

The two teams played an evenly matched first quarter, with Canada in the lead after 10 minutes of play. Team Canada pulled away in the second quarter by 15 points, but Mali tightened the gap toward the end of the quarter. The first half finished with Canada up 37-31.

Canada won the third quarter 58-48. In the final period, Mali fought hard but Canada maintained the lead to win 71-62.

Canada's Bridget Carleton led the team in scoring with 13 points while adding 9 rebounds. Emma Piggin and Lauren Yearwood added 10 points respectively in the match. The full game statistics are available here.

"I think that we did some great things and we started well. We have to learn from the game and make some adjustments for the next games in order to be successful," said player Maurane Corbin.

Canada's next game at the FIBA U19 Women's World Championships is July 19, 2015 where Canada takes on France at 8:45 a.m EST. The games will be streamed live on youtube.com/FIBA.

For the full U19 Women's National Team roster and coaching staff, click here.

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