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Olympic Women’s Basketball Recap: France d. Canada

There's still reason for excitement in the program, once they wash the sour taste of missed opportunity out of their mouths.

France 68, Canada 63 | Box Score

It was right there. Right. There.

The Canadian women’s basketball team put themselves in a position to make their own kind of history, over the last Olympic cycle, over the course of this tournament, and over most of Tuesday’s game. With a win against a higher-ranked France team, Canada would move on to the semi-finals of the Olympic basketball tournament for the first time since 1984 (just hours after Derek Drouin became the first Canadian to win a gold medal in a field event in 20 years, no less), setting up a showdown with the juggernaut United States on Thursday. A loss would mean the end of a fun, spirited tournament that would have shown, regardless, just how much there is to be excited about in Canadian women’s basketball, but left the sour taste of missed opportunity in the mouths of fans and team alike.

There isn’t enough mouthwash in the world following a 68-63 loss to France.

Entering as 5.5-point underdogs, Canada came out a house afire, executing at the offensive end like no quarter prior in the tournament. Some of that was owed to a hot shooting stretch, sure, but Miah-Marie Langlois and Kim Gaucher worked to dominate from the mid-range and out early, creating the requisite gravity for Tamara Tatham to begin attacking. With Canada’s ever-stout defense giving France trouble early, that offensive outburst saw Canada open up a 25-16 lead through one frame.

Like Canada, France has gotten by for most of the tournament on their defense, and so the Canadians’ hot start seemed tenuous. Factor in a second unit that’s struggled from the floor at times – Kia Nurse went 0-of-6 through tough, physical attention (both teams were unhappy with a tight whistle on drives) in the half to drop her shooting percentage to 24.5 percent (it finished at 25 percent), and Nirra Fields didn’t make her usual impact out of the gate – and a cold stretch was to be expected.

France’s comeback was a slower burn, with a 10-0 run over three minutes led by Valeriane Ayayi’s hot shooting and tough drives, and she rounded out the half with a game-high 12 points. Sandrine Gruda, the tallest player on the floor most of the time, drew enough bodies as Canada gang-rebounded to open up other opportunities, and she showed some nice versatility at the offensive end that led to seven points and some early foul trouble on Canada’s part, save for when Natalie Achonwa was able to pull one over on the officials. Gruda, by the way, finished with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

That run trimmed Canada’s lead down to just one, but the Canadians pushed right back, surely realizing they couldn’t afford to enter the second half with a clean slate. A nice Gaucher jumper trailing the play gave her a team-high 11 in the half, and an excellent defensive stand prevented France from getting a shot off in a nine-second final possession. All told, Canada held France to 43 percent shooting and won the turnover battle (narrowly – both teams lead the elimination round in turnovers), good enough for a 37-32 lead, about as strong a start as they could have hoped.

The third quarter didn’t start as swimmingly, with an initial heave a fitting omen for what was to come.

The frame was back-and-forth for the most part, with that three tying the game and then the two teams trading leads throughout. Canada’s shooting remained cold, and while Nurse brought a strong defensive effort against some bigger opponents, her shot remained awry, and the Langlois-Gaucher-Tatham triumvirate naturally came down to earth. Meanwhile, Canada’s defense kept them close, except for the occasional transition lapse, an issue that’s popped up at times in the tournament for brief stretches.

France would again use the transition game to tie the game back up entering the fourth, after Langlois neglected to hold for a late shot after Canada forced a massive back-court turnover (which came on the back of a huge Katherine Plouffe offensive rebound). And so Canada went into the fourth tied at 50-50, which seemed fitting given how evenly the teams matched up on paper and through three quarters.

It was just terrible for blood pressure.

The fourth started similar to the third, but with Canada’s offense continuing to sputter, France was able to eke ahead. When Olivia Epoupa produced one of her four steals on the night and sent Marine Johannes the length of the floor for a four-point France lead with seven minutes to go, Canada needed to talk things over and try to regroup. After some strange nobody-wants-to-win sequences, a returning Gaucher hit a massive three to stunt the France pseudo-momentum and cut the lead to three, only for Achonwa to send a bad post-entry pass out of bounds on the next possession. (The game really was like that down the stretch, with both sides seemingly allergic to making a run and with mistakes abounding on either side; Canada, in particular, got skittish in response to the zone France logically threw at them when they stopped hitting threes, and the ball got stickier than their 18 assists on 19 field goals would suggest.)

If there were ever a breakthrough Canada needed, it was Nurse driving down the right side for an and-one midway through the frame.

Canada’s calling-card defense continued to be their saving grace, even as France pushed to 13 offensive rebounds, and a French shot-clock violation opened the window for Canada to make use of the bonus. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, Canada’s best rebounder all tournament, hauled in an offensive board and went to the line to cut the lead to one. But as tips, stops, and late-clock forces continued on the defensive side, Canada struggled to score, with Nurse missing a couple of tough opportunities through contact (Gaelle Skrela did just a terrific job defensively in this one, even if Nurse’s own struggles contributed to her 3-of-17 night).

Even when Canada forced a five-second inbounding violation and cut the lead back to three on the subsequent possession, they still couldn’t get out of their own way – an attempt by Fields to foul was deemed unsportsmanlike (off the ball), which meant France got shots and retained possession. The end-of-game foul-and-score routine didn’t allow Canada to inch their way back in, and in the end, they have only their offense – all 38 points of it over the final three quarters – to blame. The defensive effort was once again terrific (France shot 41 percent and committed 21 turnovers), but Canada will spend the next four years figuring out how to produce points that don’t come on offensive rebounds or with Nurse at the line.

It’s going to be a long four years, and Canada’s next Olympic team could look drastically different from this one. Gaucher, Shona Thorburn, and Lizanne Murphy are likely done, and Tamara Tatham will be the team’s veteran presence next time around. Luckily, the pipeline of Canadian talent is strong, and this same core that won the 2015 FIBA Americas tournament could return as many as seven players who are currently 24 or younger. Nurse, in particular, should continue developing into a star, and the experience of being the top option here, even in a losing effort, should prove invaluable. The experience for the entire group will be important to growing the program internally over the next cycle, and they’ll surely use this finish – an encouraging one, but one a step or two short of their ultimate goal – as additional fuel.

It’s tough to think that way immediately after a tough loss, and there will surely be those disappointed (and drawing parallels to the men’s side, an endeavor that not only provides little utility but also ignores the fact that, you know, the women were here, made the qualifying round, and deserve their own conversation). The program is growing and moving forward with positive momentum. It’s just going to take a little time to get over the sting of a missed opportunity.