Toronto, ON - The U16 Women's National Team are heading to the gold medal game after defeating the host team Mexico 70-42 in the semi-final round of the U16 Americas tournament in Puebla, Mexico.

Alyssa Jerome had a monster game for Canada, with her first double-double of the tournament with 16 points and 16 rebounds in 21 minutes. Hailey Brown chipped in with 14 points and Shaina Pellington pulled down 9 rebounds in the win. Mexico's Maria Ruiz was the standout, pouring in 13 points in 20 minutes of action. For a full boxscore, click here.  

Canada found themselves trailing for most of the first quarter, however they stayed in the game by pulling down 7 offensive rebounds in the quarter. In the final 22 seconds of the first, Canada finally took the lead and went into the second quarter with a 27-24 lead. The second quarter went back and forth both ways, Mexico threw different types of defences at Canada which at times caused confusion. However Canada would settle in and took a 46-32 lead into half.

Canada started the half on a 7-0 run, but than went cold from the field. In a six-minute span, Canada did not score, however Mexico could not capitalize and Canada found themselves up 56-38 heading into the fourth. In the final quarter, Canada locked down defensively and held Mexico to 4 points, to seal the win.

Co-Head Coach Carly Clarke said "Great win over Mexico tongiht in front of a packed house. Our girls kept theie composure as Mexico got off to a hot shooting start. Now we are exicted and focused on the final tomorrow versus a tough Brazil team."

Canada will now take on Brazil again, however this time in the gold medal game. Tip-off set for 9:00p.m. EST. The game will be streamed on youtube.com/FIBA

Canada has also earned a berth in the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championships. For full team roster and coaching staff, click here.

Ceci est disponible egalement en francais. Contactez Bailey Williams ci-dessous pour l'obtenir.

For more information, please contact:
Bailey Williams
Manager, Communications
E-mail: bwilliams@basketball.ca
Cell: 647-460-7976

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