Olympians lead women’s basketball team to Pan Am Games
Feature: Tamara Tatham
Courtside with Canada Basketball: a total of 12 athletes, including Olympians, professionals, and rising stars will represent Team Canada this summer at the Pan Am Games.
Women’s basketball will invade the Ryerson Athletic Centre from July 16-20. Until then, final preparations for the games will take Team Canada to Edmonton on June 30. Later this summer, Edmonton will also host the 2015 FIBA Americas Women’s Championship (August 9-16), which acts as the official qualification tournament for Rio 2016.
Shona Thorburn
If you’re seeing double on the court, it’s because Michelle Plouffe and sister Katherine Plouffe are identical twins. Michelle and six other members of the squad competed at the London 2012 Olympic games.
The full roster
Forward: Miranda Ayim, Lizanne Murphy, Katherine Plouffe, Michelle Plouffe, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, Tamara Tatham
Guard: Kim Gaucher, Nirra Fields, Miah-Marie Langlois, Kia Nurse, Shona Thorburn
Centre: Natalie Achonwa
Miranda Ayim
Looking to peak this summer, the team has been building momentum since they finished 5th at the 2014 FIBA World Championship in Turkey – their best finish in almost 30 years.
To date, Canada has captured four medals in women’s basketball, including a silver in Winnipeg 1999.
