Women’s Basketball

What: Canada Senior Women’s National Team vs France

When: 11:15 a.m. ET / 8:15 a.m. PT

When: Pierre Mauroy Stadium, Lille France

Watch: CBC Gem / CBC

Canadian Women kick off Paris 2024 campaign:

The Senior Women’s National Team will open their Paris 2024 journey by facing the hosts, France, on Monday morning. This is the fourth consecutive appearance of Canadian women at the Summer Olympics, dating back to London in 2012. The Senior Women enter this year’s Olympics after a fourth-place finish at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 -- the team's best finish at a Women’s World Cup since a third-place Finish in 1986 -- and a third-place finish at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2023.

Repping the red and white

The 12 who will suit up for Canada in Paris are a mix of veteran players and first-time Olympians. Led by co-captains Natalie Achonwa and Kayla Alexander, Team Canada will also see Laeticia Amihere, Bridget Carleton, Shay Colley, Aaliyah Edwards, Yvonne Ejim, Nirra Fields, Sami Hill, Kia Nurse, Cassandre Prosper and Syla Swords wearing the red and white. This will be the fourth Olympics for Achonwa, the third for Nurse and the second time around for Alexander, Amihere, Carleton, Edwards and Colley. Paris 2024 will be the Olympics debut for Hill, Ejim, Prosper and Swords, as well as head coach Víctor Lapeña’s first Olympics at the helm for Team Canada.

Group B

The Canadians enter Paris ranked No. 5 in the FIBA World Rankings, presented by NIKE. They will be in Group B for group play alongside No. 3 ranked Australia, No. 7 ranked host team France, and No. 12 ranked Nigeria. Australia reached the quarterfinals in Tokyo 2020 before falling to the United States, while France won a bronze medal after defeating Serbia in the third-place game. Nigeria had an 11th-place finish in Tokyo, while Canada finished 9th. WNBA fans should recognize some familiar faces beyond Canada’s own Laeticia Amihere, Bridget Carleton, Aaliyah Edwards and Kia Nurse. France’s roster features Gabby Williams, who spent five seasons in the WNBA, playing for the Chicago Sky and Seattle Storm before moving her career to Europe where she teamed up with national team teammate Marine Johannes at Lyon ASVEL. Johannes is known to WNBA fans for her flashy passes and one-legged shots after spending three seasons with the New York Liberty before returning to Europe in preparation for her home Olympics this year.

Captain Nat

After representing Canada at the London, Rio and Tokyo Olympics, Natalie Achonwa has announced that Paris will be her final Olympic Games suiting up for Canada. She will become the first Canadian women’s player to ever appear in four Olympic Games and the 31-year-old is looking forward to making the most of her final time wearing the red and white. “It’s an amazing time for basketball in Canada,” Achonwa said. “I’m looking forward to creating the next Canada moment. I’m ready for the games to come so that I can say that this is my favourite Olympic moment, this last one, the last time I tie my shoes up in a Canada jersey. I’m really looking forward to another opportunity on the biggest global stage.”

Keeping tabs

Fans can catch all of the action from Paris 2024 live on CBC. In addition to TV broadcasts on CBC and partner networks TSN and Sportsnet, audiences will be able to watch live events daily on the free CBC Gem streaming service, CBC’s Paris 2024 website and the CBC Paris 2024 app for Android and iOS devices. The website and app will also house full event schedules, results, athlete bios and features, daily updates and more. Plus, exclusive coverage will be provided by CBC Sports including in-depth reports, highlights, digital series and on-demand replays of the biggest moments and events. Fans can also keep track of everything Canada Basketball by following @canadabasketball on instagram, @CanBball on Twitter, Canada Basketball on Facebook and @canbball on TikTok.

Up next

After Monday’s debut for the senior women’s national team, Tuesday, July 30 will be a busy day for Canada Basketball as the Senior Men’s National Team will face Australia at 7:30 a.m ET/4:30 a.m. PT, while Kacie Bosch, Paige Crozon, Michelle and Katherine Plouffe will play Canada's first 3x3 game in Paris, also against Australia, at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m PT.