Canada 68, Senegal 58 | Box Score
For the first time ever, Canada is 3-0 in women’s Olympic basketball play.
With a 68-58 victory over Senegal on Wednesday, Canada’s now taken care of the early part of their schedule ahead of big challenges in the U.S. and Spain, but they’ll surely be scouring the tape from this one for a means of coming out a little stronger. A slow first half like the one Canada had against Senegal could be deadly when the competition gets ratcheted up, and Canada will be looking for ways to tighten up some early jitters and cold shooting. Even once they settled, they didn’t close particularly cleanly, either.
Still, they took care of business when they were at anything but their best, and that’s worth being pleased with. They’re 3-0 with a plus-36 differential, good for second in Group B for the time being, as good a start as they could have hoped for this week, and with room for improvement.
Things started out shaky for the 34-point favorite, to the point that it seemed at times in the first half like head coach Lisa Thomaidis might be at her wit’s end. The starting lineup was frigid, failing to score until nearly four minutes into the game. Kia Nurse’s introduction into the game midway through the first quarter helped key a 17-5 run the rest of the frame, as Senegal struggled to avoid fouling her at both ends of the floor.
Natalie Achonwa and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe leveraged a major size advantage inside and Nurse dropped nine (with a plus-13) in 14 minutes in the half, but Senegal kept pushing the pace off of Canada’s eight turnovers, refusing to shoot unless they could get into the paint or fire from long-range. A cold 2-of-12 mark from outside helped limit the damage some, but Canada’s own 1-of-9 mark from outside kept things close. Somewhat surprisingly, Canada held just a 33-24 lead at halftime, though there was a strong sense that they were one good run from asserting their status as the heavy favorite.
Nurse hits a lay-up giving her 9 points and #CAN a 33-24 lead going into halftime against #SEN https://t.co/NF944n7Gaj
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 10, 2016
That run came in the third, with Canada shooting a little stronger from the floor and stretching the lead out as far as 16. They entered the fourth in control with a 14-point advantage but took their foot off the gas, and a plucky Senegal squad leveraged even more Canadian turnovers (eight in the half for 16 on the game) to win the fast-break battle and slowly move their way back into it. Canada didn’t necessarily relinquish control, but with the lead down to seven at the three-minute mark and Senegal more than happy to play the high-variance David strategy of launching from beyond the arc (they finished 4-of-18), an upset was very much a possibility.
As they did last game, Canada once again looked to Nurse to settle things, and she answered in kind to end the run and stretch the lead back to nine. Canada would hang on from there, with Nurse finishing with a team-high 14 points despite a 4-of-13 night from the floor. Few had their shots dropping on an afternoon the Canadians shot 39 percent overall and 4-of-19 on threes, but some unselfish play resulted in 21 assists on 26 field goals and 11 of the 12 women who played getting on the board. Miah-Marie Langlois, in particular, moved the ball well, and Tamara Tatham came up big with a 13-and-10 double-double to swing the game inside (and help neutralize the excellent Aya Traore, who dropped 24 for Senegal).
FINAL: Canada 68, Senegal 58!
We are 3-0 for the first time at the Olympics! 😏 #Rio2016 #basketball pic.twitter.com/uCVlF7ZNTz
— Canada Basketball (@CanBball) August 10, 2016
Thomaidis may look to shorten the rotation some as the competition gets tougher, as while depth can be an advantage over the course of the tournament, Canada needs to find a tight rotation that works against the U.S., Spain, and entering the elimination rounds. It will be interesting to hear if Canada considers starting Nurse, their best offensive weapon over the last two games, to kick-start the offense, or if Achonwa’s minutes will increase following a strong but short showing here (a tough call considering Tatham’s outing and Katherine Plouffe’s strong defensive outing). The options at Thomaidis’ hands are a luxury, to be sure, you’d just think she’d want to play her best groups moving forward, if Canada’s certain which those are.
In any case, Canada will be a heavy underdog against the States on Friday, a game in which they’ll look to find their best selves ahead of a huge game opposite Spain on the weekend. It’s going to be a really fun couple of days for this squad.
