Canada’s student women’s team fell short in overtime losing 75-72 to Sweden in Saturday’s rank 5-8 semi-final match. Team Canada will attempt to improve their 1-4 record this Monday against Hungary.

The student women came out strong in the first quarter. Rachelle Coward hit a three pointer at the end of the quarter to give the team a 20-15 lead over Sweden. The second quarter continued in Canada’s favour with the women ending the half with a 12-point lead. The first half put Canada in front 37-25 in some exciting first half action.

A determined team Sweden came out in the second half with an 8-0 run in the middle of the third quarter. Sweden kept Canada to only six points in the quarter and took a 47-43 lead at the end of the third. The close action continued in the fourth quarter with the two teams exchanging scoring opportunities sending the game into overtime. Team Canada kept it close, but the game ended in a 75-72 hard-fought loss for Team Canada.

Windsor native Miah-Marie Langlois lead the team in scoring with 26 points while also tying the team high in rebounds with five and adding five assists in the contest. Dartmouth, N.S. native Rachelle Coward added 12 points with two assists and two rebounds. The game statistics are available here.

Guard Miah-Marie Langlois expressed her contentment in the team’s improvement and hard work stating, “We did a lot better than last night. We executed better and had only a few lapses in the third quarter. At the end of the game, we had two opportunities and fell short. Our next game is against Hungary and we have to continue to focus on getting better, executing and playing with consistent high level effort from start to finish. I'm looking forward to our team coming together to make our last game our best game of the tournament.”

When asked about his team’s performance, Head Coach Fabian McKenzie stated, "I'm really proud of the effort of our team today. We played with more sustained energy through the whole game. We had a few lapses and Sweden hurt us inside the paint. We had a shot to win it and that's all you can ask for."

Team Canada continues the FISU Games Monday taking on Hungary to end the tournament.

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