Canadian Women’s 5x5 team loses to Australia, now 0-2 at Olympics
Bridget Carleton had a fantastic game with 19 points, but it was not enough to win a crucial game.
It was a must-win game for both Canada and Australia in women’s 5x5 today in Lille, France, as both teams hoped to better their chances of advancing to the Quarter-Finals.
Canada has lost their first game against France, while Australia was upset by Nigeria, so each team came into the game with a 0-1 record.
Unfortunately, a win was not in cards for Canada today, and now their fate rests in the hands of other teams.
Turnovers and Free Throws hinder Canada
After the loss to France, Canada came into this game with a few clear goals — limit turnovers, play strong defence, and get buckets. It was also imperative to avoid foul trouble from the front court, while also slowing down Australia’s powerful bigs and fast sharpshooters.
Overall, the defence played by Canada today was much better than it was against France. They were aggressive but held strong and did not foul much. They made it harder for Aussie star Ezi Magbegor, who ended up getting 4 personal fouls and sitting on the bench in the second half.
Canada played with energy and heart — diving for loose balls, getting active on the glass, and getting steals and assists.
Yet, there were two clear factors that made it hard for Canada against Australia — turnovers and shooting. While Canada actually had less turnovers than Australia today, giving up 16 to the Opals’ 20, they could not capitalize on them as well. Canada was missing shots from everywhere on the court, including the free throw line.
They shot 66.7% from the free throw line, 35% from the field, and 46.7% from three-point range... those are not winning numbers against a team with sharp shooters like Sami Whitcomb.
Canada’s best offensive hope in this game was Bridget Carleton, who had an excellent stat line of 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, shooting 5-7 from distance. She was truly everywhere on the court, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome Australia alone.
The Canadians lacked secondary offensive power to compliment Carleton’s performance. Carleton scored five of the team’s seven three pointers, with Shay Colley scoring another and Sami Hill scoring one as well. After Carleton’s 19 points, the next highest scorer was Kia Nurse with 12 points, and Kayla Alexander scored 10. They were the only three players in double digit scoring.
The Opals shot better (47.5% from the field) and took more advantage of the turnovers they got over Canada. They were better at finishing in the paint than Canada, and managed to keep the Canadians away as they tried to push late in the game.
Overall, it was only a 5-point game as the Australians won 70-65 over Canada. Good for Canada’s point differential, but it’s still a loss on the board.
Canada hoping for a miracle
Now that Canada is 0-2 in Group B, they are hoping luck is on their side. As this is written, Nigeria and France are playing, and if Nigeria wins the game Canada will be eliminated.
If France wins, Canada has a small margin of hope to advance. They’d have to see if France can beat Australia, and then they would have to beat Nigeria by enough points to make up their point differential score.
Either way, they play Nigeria August 4th at 7:30am. It could either be a huge game, or mean nothing to Canada’s hopes of moving on.
Up next for Canada Basketball:
Women’s 3x3: August 1st, 4pm ET, vs France
Men’s 5x5: August 2nd, 11:15pm ET, vs Spain
Women’s 5x5: August 4th, 7:30am ET, vs Nigeria