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Canada’s U18 Women’s National Team Set to Play in AmeriCup Final with Big Win over Brazil
BUCARAMANGA, Colombia (June 22, 2024) - Canada’s U18 Women’s National Team defeated Brazil 85-46 in the FIBA U18 Women’s AmeriCup semifinal to set up a clash with USA in the gold medal game.
Nyadieng Yiech started the game with a bucket, leading the team with 10 points by the end of the first quarter. Yiech finished the game with a team-high 21 points and eight rebounds, shooting 60 percent from three.
The team has been playing in transition all week, and they continued that last night, recording 14 steals and getting ahead.
Although the team has several shooters who can knock down threes, Canada's aggressiveness toward the rim proved successful. They made 51.2 percent of their 2-FG shots and were awarded 27 free-throw opportunities.
Jasmine Bascoe, who hit four threes in the game and finished with 17 points, maintained composure through every matchup.
“Every game has been a battle, and we knew that coming into this tournament, our main goal was to qualify [for FIBA U19 World Cup] because we’re thinking for the future,” said Bascoe. “Now that we’ve qualified, we want to go for gold, and so just locking in and knowing that at 12 o’clock, it’s the next day. New game, new focus.”
In the third quarter, Canada's lead climbed to 30 points, and it looked straight ahead to the gold medal game. Patricia Augustin was the third leading scorer, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists in a solid performance.
Alex-Anne Bessette and Avery Sussex saw more minutes in the second half, scoring seven points each in Canada’s win.
Now, Canada will face the USA in the final. The USA, like Canada, has remained undefeated all week.
“The message heading into the game is to just go in with confidence,” said head coach Marlo Davis. “Believe in everything that we’ve done up until this point and the preparation from every standpoint.”
“The US is a mighty opponent and has been very dominant in this space for decades now, so our mindset is going to be, why not us?”
Canada vs USA will play tonight at 9:10 p.m. ET / 6:10 p.m. PT. Fans can catch the game live on FIBA's YouTube channel.
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