(Toronto, Ont. August 6 2014) – Canada (1-0) battled through a slow start to beat El Salvador 65-35 in their opening game of the U18 FIBA Americas Championship for Women, in Colorado Springs, U.S.A.

“We are happy to get out of the first game with a win. We shot the ball okay from the perimeter at times, got out in transition and scored some easy hoops,” said head coach Rich Chambers.  “El Salvador was very scrappy and we turned the ball over too many times. Hopefully we will get that figured out tomorrow.”

After the first quarter, both teams were struggling to find their shooting rhythm; Canada shot 5-20, while El Salvador shot 4-12. There was a significant size advantage for the red and white, leading to a 15-5 rebounding advantage after just one quarter of play.

The rest of the game would be all Canada as they put the defensive clamps down and held El Salvador to three straight single digit quarters: four points in the second, eight in the third and nine in the fourth.

Canada’s offense revolved around shots in the paint and three-point looks. The team made eight threes and scored 32 points in the paint.

Daneesha Provo (Dartmouth, N.S.) led the junior women in scoring, finishing with 14 points on 5-11 shooting. Shay Colley (Brampton, Ont.) was a strong presence in the backcourt, chipping in nine points and four assists.

“ I found that we came together as a team but we need to work on some things like turnovers and help side defence,” said Colley. “I thought El Salvador was a very good team and very scrappy, but it was good for us to have a good competition.”

Canada’s next game is against Mexico, and tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. EST.

Full roster can be found here: http://www.basketball.ca/junior-women-s15144

Full box score, summary and shot chart can be found here: http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/18/12/27/18/95ArAuhA83D6E/

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