(Zaragoza, Spain) - The U17 women started their three-game exhibition series in Spain with a competitive game against Italy falling 46-45 in Zaragoza, Spain.

Starting for Canada were Hanna Hall, Hailey Brown, Alyssa Jerome, Sarah Donavan, and Kyla Shand. Click here for full team roster.

"This was a great opportunity to get into game mode and to face a close game situation against a good team like Italy," said head coach Jodi Gram. "We are far from perfect but got great learning from our successes and our mistakes."

Jerome led the Canadian side with 14 points and six rebounds while Brown finished with seven points, nine rebounds while shooting 75% from the free throw line. Canada's defense was impressive, holding Italy to 23% from the field.

Italy jumped out to an 8-2 lead early only to have Canada climb within three at the end of the first quarter.

Building on a strong finish to the first quarter, Canada kept that momentum on both ends of the court to take the lead 22-19 at halftime.

Canada came out with great energy in the third quarter, but so did Italy and maintained their three point lead to end the period.

With great defense being played on both sides, each possession was paramount down the stretch as Canada could not build on the small lead they had for the bulk of the game. As a result, Italy was able to go ahead by one, a lead they held until the final buzzer sounded.

Despite the loss, Canada will be able to build on a lot of positive aspects of their performance leading into the upcoming exhibition games.

Canada's next game is Saturday June 18th at 1:00pm E.S.T. against Spain.

‍