BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Steve Baur likes what he’s seen so far, but the head coach of the Canadian women’s under-18 basketball team won’t let a perfect pool record cloud the waters.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Steve Baur likes what he’s seen so far, but the head coach of the Canadian women’s under-18 basketball team won’t let a perfect pool record cloud the waters.
“We entered the tournament (FIBA Americas Championship) like everyone else, focused on our goal of getting on the podium,” said Baur. “Our first objective was to win our pool.”
Canada improved to 3-0 on Wednesday by dunking host Argentina 89-55 at Estadio Obras Sanitarias in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After a rest day on Thursday, Canada will face El Salvador.
Canada led Wednesday by T’yana Todd’s 17-point performance, while Marah Dykstra recorded a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds and Jasmine Bascoe finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Mary-Anna Asare added 13 points, while Fatima Diakhaté scored 11 points and Lemyah Hlyton provided seven assists. Emma Koabel finished with nine points and five assists.
“Argentina got off to a good start and I thought our response to their attack was early and the crowd showed great character for us and great resilience,” Baur said.
“We split the ball well. Lemyah and Emma had great assist numbers to show the ball was moving and T’yana Todd continues to shoot for us. Now on to our next step to qualify for the World’s Championships.”
Argentina were led by a 14-point performance from Angelina Giacone and 12 points and nine rebounds from Lara Tribouley in the loss as they shot 31% from the floor but only 21% from three, shooting 4 for 19 from beyond the arch.
Canada shot 39% from the floor and 45% from three, where they connected on 14 of 31 attempts from deep. After entering the halftime break with a 14-point lead, it was Canada’s three-point shot that opened the game in the third. Canada outscored Argentina 29-9 in the third quarter as a streak of three straight three-pointers from Koabel, Bascoe and Todd forced Argentina to a timeout with 5:56 left in the quarter as the Canada’s lead swelled to 24 points.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 15, 2022
The Canadian Press
