Canadian Women drop opener against hosts France — but it’s not time to panic

In a tough 75-54 loss against France, Canada couldn’t recover from a tough second quarter.

It was the Canadian Women’s turn to debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday morning. They played the host team, France — a sleeper team in the women’s FIBA landscape who are much better than their world ranking of 7th. With multiple WNBA prospects, and more talent coming up in their young players, the reigning Olympic Bronze Medalists are poised to return to the podium.

Plus, they are the host team, meaning the atmosphere in the arena was against Canada. Add in a lack of genuine practice time as a full team, with the WNBA players arriving late to camp, plus it being the first game... there were a lot of things going against the Canadians.

Despite the loss, Canada’s hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds is far from gone. There is still a plausible path to making it out of the group — so don’t panic, Canadians.

An off night for Canada’s offence AND defence

Three things in life are certain — death, taxes, and Kayla Alexander being a walking double double. The veteran co-captain of Canada’s women’s team is the anchor that holds this team steady, so when she has an off-night, it unfortunately is noticeable. Alexander scored 6 points an 10 rebounds against France, shooting 2-6 from the field. She usually gets a lot more touches, so it was a little odd to not see her get as many today, even through struggle.

Canada as a whole just couldn’t get the ball into the hoop. They only scored 2 points in the second quarter and shot 32.1% from the field in the whole game. They were getting good looks, but the ball wouldn’t fall.

Players that usually carry a lot of the shooting responsibility — Kia Nurse, Bridget Carleton, Sami Hill — only scored 4 three-point baskets collectively. Only two players — Nurse and Shay Colley — scored in double digits.

Things were about the same on the defensive side, and turnovers were a big problem. Canada gave away 25 turnovers in the game, allow France to get hot in transition and take advantage of Canada’s misses. France had 9 steals total as well, with Gabby Williams having 5 alone — she was just picking the ball from right under the Canadians’ noses.

So yeah, a lot to work on for next time — but the team will have to forget about the shortcomings of today and focus on their next game on Thursday against Australia.

Silver linings in a double-digit loss

Canada has a lot to work on, but there are a few silver linings to this performance. First, Canada out-rebounded France, something they will need to take into the Australia game.

Aaliyah Edwards also came out in her second Olympic debut with a ton of energy, defensive power, and fight. The WNBA rookie will be a huge factor for Canada if she is able to control her fouling, rebound a lot, and make use of her chances in the paint.

Canada was able to get some scoring going in the end, which was when those three pointers started going in for Nurse, Carleton, and Hill. Three-point shooting has been a point of emphasis when it comes to what this team needs to improve on since their Olympic qualifier tournament. Carleton is having a great season in the WNBA when it somes to distance shooting, and hopefully she gets more in rhythm next game.

Group B Logistics

Canada’s loss today doesn’t mean defeat in the group stage. Canada now sits 0-1 in the group along with Australia. Nigeria beat Australia in a shocking result earlier in the day, and joins France atop the group at 1-0.

Point differential makes up a whole lot of value in international tournaments. Nigeria won against Australia by 13, while Canada’s loss against France came with a blow of 21 points in their own differential. So now France holds the top spot, followed by Nigeria, and then Australia, with Canada in last.

The top two teams from each group advance to knockout games, plus the two best third place teams. In order for Canada to have a chance to advance, they first need to focus on beating Australia — and by a good margin of points. Bringing the Opals down to 0-2 would help Canada immensely, and getting their point differential to a less scary number will help as well.

Then, Canada REALLY needs to beat Nigeria, and again, by a good margin. Winning their next two will put them in a better place to win the group.

Also, Canada needs to hope France beats Nigeria on Thursday as well. Canada’s game against France is over, so them being 2-0 over Nigeria is the better option here. Then, Canada winning over Nigeria to bring them down to 1-2 would be great for Canada.

If Canada wins against Australia and Nigeria, and France also wins against both teams, Canada still has a chance to be second in the group. In that scenario, France would be 3-0, Canada would be 2-1, Nigeria would be 1-2, and Australia would be 0-3. This probably the least confusing path to the next round for Canada.

Instead of stressing over point differential and game records, we just need to wait to see how the second games shake out. Canada has much to improve going into their next game, and this team is full of hardworking veterans who can rally together, improve, and most importantly not dwell on the loss they suffered.

Don’t Panic Canada — these women aren’t going down without a fight.

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The Canadian women’s 5x5 team plays Australia Thursday morning at 7:30AM ET

The Canadian women’s 3x3 team starts pool play Tuesday afternoon at 12pm ET

The Canadian Men’s team plays in the second game against Australia on Tuesday at 7:30am ET, after winning their first game against Greece.