Canadian women's basketball team living a perfect storm a year ahead of Rio ... - National Post
Canada capped an undefeated summer on home court Sunday by defeating Cuba 82-66 to win the FIBA Americas Women’s Championship and clinch that all-important Olympic berth one year before the Games. As a sellout crowd of 2,600 at the Saville Community Sports Centre chanted: “Rio. “I started crying,” said team captain Kim Gaucher, who reconsidered her plan to retire following Canada’s eighth-place finish at the London Games to take one more shot at an Olympic medal. The victory on Sunday ran Canada’s record to a spotless 6-0 at the Olympic qualifying tournament and to 11-0 on home court when you factor in their 5-0 won-lost mark en route to a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto in July. Team Canada truly is living a perfect storm, many of the components of a winning team meshing seamlessly in the run-up to the 2016 Summer Olympics. Their charismatic star, guard Kia Nurse, who scored 20 points to lead Canada, is just 19. She is still polishing her game at the University of Connecticut, and she’s only going to improve. The same is true for power forward Natalie Achonwa, 22, who was the youngest player for Canada at the 2012 Olympics, and now a WNBA star with the Indiana Fever. Others like Nirra Fields (21), Miah-Marie Langlois (22) and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (23) are just starting their senior international careers, really. “It has been like that since Pan Ams and I think we’re just going to continue that. Source: news.nationalpost.com
