Image courtesy of FIBA

In Eighth Final Round play of the FIBA U19 World Championship for Women, Canada lost 88-54 to the United States. The Junior Women’s National Team (JWNT) was led by Jamie Weisner’s team highs in points (14) and rebounds (seven).

Canada was first on the board and stayed close to begin the contest, but the American side pulled ahead to lead 25-16 after the first 10 minutes of play. Team USA stretched its advantage in the second quarter before a run by Team Canada brought them within eight; at halftime, Canada trailed 47-31.

The United States opened the second half with a 9-0 run and went on to win the period 31-11. Undaunted, the JWNT bounced back and outscored the American team 12-4 through the first eight minutes of the final frame. Canada won the fourth quarter 12-10 and held the USA under 100 points for the first time in the tournament.

Jamie Weisner led Canada with 14 points and seven rebounds while missing just one shot all game. Shay Colley contributed 11 points and Sam Cooper added 10 on the day. A balanced Team USA attack featured five players in double-figures. The game’s statistics can be viewed here.

"I thought we competed really hard tonight,” said head coach Scott Edwards after the game. “Unfortunately, turnovers and offensive rebounds did us in. We had the game down to eight points near the end of the second quarter, which was a great start for us. There was a great deal in the game for our athletes to learn from, and many positives to take with us to the Lithuania game tomorrow.”

Sudbury, Ontario’s Cooper agreed with her head coach on the effort, saying "we came out hard and knew what we had to do against this talented team. We played our hearts out, but their offensive rebounding hurt us. We battled hard for 40 minutes and we will have to bring that intensity to tomorrow's match."

The junior women are now 2-3 in the FIBA U19 Worlds and will play the host nation, Lithuania (1-4), tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. (ET) in the team’s last match of the Eighth Final Round.

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