CHARLEROI, Belgium (July 13, 2024) - The Canadian Senior Women’s National Team dropped a 61-48 decision to Spain on Saturday in Belgium in their second exhibition game in advance of the Paris Olympics.

Nirra Fields led the team with 16 points and Laeticia Amihere added nine points and seven rebounds in the loss, while Spain was led by an 11-point performance from Alba Torrens and 10 points from Laura Gil.

Canada shot 33 percent while Spain made 35 percent of their field goal attempts. The Canadians held a 41-36 rebounding advantage, including 19-13 on the offensive glass, but their hustle wasn’t enough to make up for 24 turnovers that led to 18 points scored by Spain.

After Canada scored the first two points of the game, Spain quickly regained the lead, holding the Canadians to just seven points in the opening quarter as they held a 13-7 lead after one.

Canada began to settle into things in the second quarter, but still trailed by four, 27-23, at the break. The Canadians shot 30 percent in the half, while their defence held Spain to 28 percent shooting over the first two quarters.

Fields scored the first points of the second half to get Canada within two as the Canadians were able to keep the pace with Spain through the first half of the third quarter. An offensive rebound and putback for Amihere kept the deficit at four points for Canada. Another bucket from Amihere brought Canada within two with three minutes remaining in the third, but Spain closed the quarter strong as a pair of free throws for Léonor Rodriguez followed by a three-pointer from Andrea Vilaro extended their lead to nine, 44-35, heading into the fourth.

Spain opened the final quarter with a corner three from Rodriguez to extend their lead to 12 points. A bucket from Kayla Alexander trimmed the deficit to 10, with 8:51 remaining in the game. Shay Colley fed a cutting Amihere for a layup to make it an eight-point game, but free throws for Vilaro extended it back to a 10-point lead for Spain with 7:35 remaining. Canada kept pushing, but Spain was able to respond to every attempt by the Canadians to cut into the lead. A three-pointer from Mariona Ortiz to beat the shot clock extended Spain’s advantage to 15 points, 54-39, as Canada called timeout with 5:47 remaining.

The teams continued to battle until the final buzzer sounded, but Spain’s offensive push spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth was too much to overcome for the Canadians.

Canada announced its official Senior Women’s National Team Paris 2024 roster on July 2, but the team was without WNBA players Bridget Carleton, Aaliyah Edwards and Kia Nurse in Belgium as the three are still with their respective WNBA teams and will join Team Canada closer to their arrival in Paris.

In addition to Saturday’s game against Spain, Canada will face Belgium on Sunday and then travel to Segovia, Spain where they will have a second exhibition game against Spain as well as a contest against Australia before arriving in Paris for the Olympics.