Achonwa, Nurse headline Canada's roster for Women's Basketball World Cup

SYDNEY, Australia — WNBA players Natalie Achonwa, Bridget Carleton and Kia Nurse headline Canada's roster for the upcoming FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.

Canada Basketball revealed its roster Monday for the tournament that starts Thursday in Sydney, following a training camp in Edmonton and series of exhibition games in Australia this month.

Canada is in a tough Group B for the World Cup. They'll open against Serbia on Sept. 22 local time (or Sept. 21, 11 p.m. ET). They'll then play France, Japan and host Australia before closing the group phase against Mali.

The top four teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals with the winners moving on to the semifinals and medal round.

The Canadian team, which was ousted in the preliminary round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is fourth in the FIBA world women's ranking.

"After weeks of training camp and exhibition games, our team is more than ready to compete at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup,'' said Canada head coach Victor Lapena.

"With a roster that features a range of experience, from Olympic veterans to several players set to make their Senior national team debut, our goal is to not only be competitive, but to play an aggressive style of basketball and proudly represent Canada every time we step on the court.''

Roster: Natalie Achonwa, forward, Guelph, Ont.; Kayla Alexander, forward, Milton, Ont.; Laeticia Amihere, forward, Mississauga, Ont.; Bridget Carleton, guard, Chatham, Ont.; Shay Colley, guard, Brampton, Ont.; Nirra Fields, guard, Montreal; Mael Gilles, guard, Montreal; Taya Hanson, guard, Kelowna, B.C.; Sami Hill, guard, Toronto; Aislinn Konig, guard, Langley, B.C.; Phillipina Kyei, forward, Calgary; Kia Nurse, guard, Hamilton.