The Senior Women’s National Team (SWNT) was unable to extend its undefeated streak to four games after a tough 75-46 loss to Montenegro. With yesterday’s thrilling victory over host-country Serbia, Canada now owns an even 1-1 record in the Belgrade Trophy Tournament. Canada’s record in their European Tour sits at 3-1.

Canada fell victim to a slow start to begin the game, which set the tone for the rest of the match. After the first frame, Montenegro held a commanding 24-9 advantage. The second 10-minute quarter saw much of the same as Canada’s opponents carried the play. At the halfway mark of the game, Team Canada found itself down 41-21.

Canada needed a big come-back in the second half, but Montenegro continued to shoot the ball well while also taking care of their end of the court. The fourth quarter saw the Red and White post 19 points for its best 10-minute stretch of the game – but the effort proved to be too little, too late.

Canada’s starting line-up had a tough time finding its rhythm and combined for 20 points, while Montenegro’s starting five posted a total of 37 points in the match. The Canadians were led by Justine Colley who scored a team-high 11 points in the contest, while Ruth Hamblin collected five rebounds to lead the squad.

Veteran Tamara Tatham reflected on the game and saw it as “a good learning experience for us as a team. We are a blend of veterans and young players, so there are unique challenges and opportunities for everyone to learn and grow individually and as a team. We see that we have lots of improvements to make on the offensive and defensive ends.”

After the tough loss, Head Coach Lisa Thomaidis focused on the positives. “We had a tough game tonight against a polished Montenegro squad. Our lack of experience was exposed – particularly on the defensive end.  This is a huge game for us in terms of growth down the road and we are looking forward to another tough game against Italy tomorrow night.”

To view game stats, click <a href="http://www.basketball.ca/files/13_06_01___Belgrade_Trophy___Canada_vs_Montenegro.pdf">here</a>

Canada will look to have a quick bounce-back effort in their final game of the Belgrade Trophy Tournament tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. (ET). The Canadians will take-on an Italian squad who are also looking for redemption following their loss today.

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