Canada advances to FIBA Pre-Qualifying Tournament final with win over New Zealand
The future of the women’s national team is proving to be in good hands as the next generation of hoops stars have led Canada to the final at the Olympic pre-qualifying tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Canada advanced on Saturday night after cruising to an 86-71 win against New Zealand. They are undefeated in all four of their games, and have won three of the four by double digits.
On Saturday night, Canada used a 16-2 run in the second quarter to separate from New Zealand and held the lead right through to the final buzzer.
Canada was outscored by 11 points in the second half, but had grown the lead to 30 at the start of the third.
Four Canadian guards scored in double digits: Syla Swords (17), Delaney Gibb (17), Jasmine Bascoe (15), and Agot Makeer (11) led the way offensively.
Canada scored 57 first half points, the most of any team in one half at this tournament. Defensively, Canada held New Zealand to 42.4 per cent shooting.
The FIBA pre-qualifying tournament provides the eight national teams that failed to qualify for the 2026 FIBA World Cup with another opportunity for an Olympic berth. The winner of the tournament will automatically qualify for the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in 2028.
Canada will await the winner of Mexico and Brazil in the other semifinal. Canada handed Mexico their only loss, 70-64 in the final game of the group phase. Brazil won their group despite losing to South Sudan 63-61 in their tournament opener.
Canada sweeps group phase, including win over host Mexico
Canada was the lone team to go 3-0 in the group phase with wins over Senegal, Philippines, and Mexico.
With the WNBA season ongoing Canada is being led by a group of young guards, each of which have made a name for themselves playing Division I NCAA basketball in the U.S.
In Canada’s 72-57 win over Senegal, Delaney Gibb came off the bench, scored 13 points, and added three assists and two steals.
Gibb, 20, is already one of the best young scorers in college basketball. She has averaged 17.8 points per game in her two seasons with Brigham Young.
Leading the way versus Senegal was Kayla Alexander who scored 17. Alexander, a centre, was a part of the national team in Canada’s two most recent visits to the Olympic Games.
On Wednesday, Canada routed the Philippines 85-38. Syla Swords was the leading scorer with 15 points.
Swords, 20, is going into her third year at the University of Michigan and is regarded as one of the NCAA’s premier guards. Through four games, she is Canada’s leading scorer at 15.5 points per game.
All 12 Canadians who saw time on the floor scored in this match-up.
Finally, Canada faced their first challenge after battling to a gritty 70-64 win over the host nation Mexico.
Guard Jasmine Bascoe – another standout guard currently playing at Villanova University – posted her best game of the tournament, scoring 17 points and carrying the load offensively in the first half. Swords also added 17 points and had nine rebounds.
With the game tight late, Yvonne Ejim hit a clutch three with 3:31 remaining to grow Canada’s lead to seven and they would not look back.
