NAGAOKA, JAPAN (August 5, 2018) - Canada's Senior Women's National Team fell 73-70 to Japan in Game 3 of a four-game Asia Exhibition Series on Sunday afternoon.
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Miranda Ayim led the way for Canada, scoring a game-high 19 points, while Bridget Carleton added 16 points of her own in the loss. Ruth Hamblin finished the game just shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
A slow start from Canada saw them trailing Japan 24-15 at the end of the first quarter. Canada locked down defensively in the second frame, limiting Japan to just 10 points as they closed the deficit to five points heading into half-time.
Japan countered once again in the third quarter thanks in large part to a 16-0 run that saw their lead grow to 60-46 early in the fourth. Despite this, Canada rallied back, outscoring them 24-18 in the final frame before ultimately coming up short.
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QUOTES
"We were pleased with the effort and consistency in the second half to get ourselves back in it against a quality team like Japan. But at the same time it's an important lesson for us. The energy they came out with, we were unable to match the first four to five minutes. Then also when we had a couple breaks in the second half that didn't go our way, we let that compound and last for a little bit longer than we would have liked. We get the positives in our efforts late and we also get the lessons to learn from the runs that Japan had. We have to clean that up and get more opportunities while we're on the road before we head into our final phase and stages ahead of the World Cup." - Head Coach Steve Baur
"It was fun to get a chance to play Japan in Japan for our first game here. It was a tough game but we gave ourselves a chance to win at the end. It's definitely a learning opportunity for us and we're excited to get back at it on Tuesday." - Bridget Carleton
UP NEXT
Canada will face Japan once again on August 7 (6:00 AM EST) in the final game of the Asia Exhibition Series.
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