Team Canada took on Team Australia for the bronze medal game. Canada was looking to get it’s first medal in FIBA competition for the first time in 36 years when the team won the bronze medal in 1986. Australia was looking to rebound after a tough finish in the semifinals and finish with a medal as the host nation.
GAME RECAP
In the first quarter, Team Canada came out aggressive and traded baskets with Australia. However, Australia led by six after the first quarter. In the second quarter, Canada led by Kia Nurse continued to attack and trade baskets but Lauren Jackson and Stephanie Talbot were too much to handle. Australia led by eight at the end of the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Australia was able to take control of the game, led by Lauren Jackson who scored 13 points in the quarter. Canada had foul trouble as Kayla Alexander had 4 fouls and they struggled to score to keep up with Australia. They led by 17 after the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Australia continued to maintain the lead and won the game by 30 points. Australia was led in scoring by Lauren Jackson with 30 points while Canada was led in scoring by Kia Nurse with 19 points. Final score was 95 to 65.
GAME NOTES
Australia wins the bronze medal and Canada finished in fourth place. Canada still has work to do on the international stage as there are countries in the world who are a bit better and a bit deeper. As Canada continues to improve as a program, as players continue to develop and get better, Canada will be back and returning to winning medals eventually.
It was always going to be tough against the likes of USA and Australia who are ranked ahead of Canada in the FIBA World Rankings, but Canada should still be proud of themselves and how they finished. They finished with their third best performance of all time in Canadian women’s basketball history.
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