Canada to play for 1st-ever bronze at FIBA U19 Women's World Cup
Canadian team fell to Russia in Saturday's semis
Canada will play for a first-ever bronze medal at the FIBA under-19 women's World Cup after a 65-41 semifinal loss to Russia on Saturday in Udine, Italy.
The Canadians, who were hoping to advance to the finals at the tournament for the first time, will face the loser of the second semifinal between the U.S. and Japan in the third-place match on Sunday.
"Really tough loss today. When you get to this point in a world championship the games get increasingly tougher. Russia came out very prepared, shot well in the first half and just outplayed us," said Canadian head coach, Carly Clarke.
"Their physicality influenced our play and we weren't able to bounce back. Now we look ahead and focus on trying to bring a bronze medal home to Canada tomorrow."
Russia, the defending silver medallists, will play the defending champion Americans for the gold medal on Sunday. The United States downed Japan 73-66 in Saturday's other semifinal.
Raisa Musina led the way against Canada with a game-high 22 points and 16 rebounds. Maria Vadeeva had 13 points and 11 boards and Viktoriia Zavialova and Daria Kurilchuk added 10 points apiece for the Russians.
Hailey Brown had seven points to lead Canada. Sarah Donovan had six and Shaina Pellington and Alyssa Jerome added five apiece.
"Today was definitely a tough game. We got away from what was working for us which was playing as a team. Russia is a great team and we struggled against them," Jerome said.
"We have to look past what happened today and get ready for tomorrow. We are still competing for a medal which was our goal coming into the tournament and we are hoping to finish with a bronze."
Russia outmatched the Canadians from the start, opening a 20-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and a 43-17 lead at the half. Canada was held to just seven points each in the second and third quarters.
The Canadians shot 25.67 per cent from the field and were 1 of 15 from three-point range. Russia sank 11 of its 22 three-pointers and outrebounded Canada 58-42.