Sept. 26, 2010
BOX SCORE
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - (www.basketball.ca) Canada's Senior Women's National Team (SWNT) has advanced to the second round of the FIBA World Championship despite a 61-49 loss on Saturday to Belarus. Canada finished the Group A preliminary round with a 1-2 record.
Gonzaga University women's basketball senior Janelle Bekkering saw her second action of the tournament. The forward from Taber, Alberta, Canada, played 10 minutes, grabbing two rebounds.
Belarus won the battle of the boards against Canada, 42-26, with Yelena Leuchanka underlining her status as one of the top low-post players in Ostrava with a 16-rebound performance. Five of those boards were on the offenssive glass.
Tatyana Troina and Anastasiya Verameyenka poured in 16 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the team in scoring.
But Canada's never-say-die spirit was apparent as they prevented Belarus from pulling away.
They closed the gap to 56-47 on two Kim Smith free throws with 3:28 to go but Troina went to the other end and hit a three-pointer as Belarus stayed in front. She finished three of five from long range.
"I thought we played pretty hard defensively, pretty well. We didn't do well on the defensive boards," said SWNT Head Coach Allison McNeill.
"I think their length really bothered us. Yelena [Leuchanka] was relentless and worked very hard.
"Offensively, we got some decent shots but they didn't fall. We didn't have a large margin for error."
The Canadians were 15 of 50 from the floor and four of 16 from three-point range. They got 11 points from Kim Smith (Mission, B.C.).
"I think we came out and played very well defensively but offensively, we didn't shoot well from the field," said guard Teresa Gabriele (Mission, B.C.).
"Defensively we did what we wanted to do. We pride ourselves on that."
Canada will meet the undefeated USA as the world championship's second round begins on Monday.
"We're excited to play them," McNeill said. "I think every player here would like to test themselves against one of the top teams. We've already had one [Australia] and now we'll get the chance to play [the Americans]."
Game time Monday is 8:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m. ET). The game will be carried in a delayed broadcast by TSN 2. Check your local listings.
(With information from fiba.com)
