Canada falls to 0-2 in Olympic women's basketball with loss to Australia

A lot will need to go right on the final gameday should the Canadian women want to advance to the next stage of the Olympic basketball tourney.

Canada dropped its second game of the tournament with a 70-65 loss to world No. 3 Australia on Thursday, struggling once again to create offence against a bigger team.

Hopes of advancing to the knockout stage aren't totally lost, however. Thanks to some help from France who picked up a 75-54 win over Nigeria on Thursday, Canada still has a path forward. The Canadians will need a decisive victory against Nigeria in its final day of group play on Sunday, a win by at least 18 points, to have a chance at advancing as one of the best two third-place teams.

Bridget Carleton led the way for Canada (0-2) with 19 points on seven-of-12 shooting from the field, including five-of-seven from three-point range. She also tacked on eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.

Kayla Alexander added 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks while Natalie Achonwa had a solid all-around game with four points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Kia Nurse had a 12-point game, but struggled mightily with efficiency, hitting only 3-of-14 from the field.

Australia (1-1) was led by a strong 19-point, 10-rebound and five-assist performance from Seattle Storm guard Sami Whitcomb. However, the team spread out the offence rather well, with Steph Talbot, Ezi Magbegor, Marianna Tolo and Cayla George all reaching double-digit point tallies.

The same problems that plagued Canada in its opening loss to France reared their head again against Australia — a propensity for turnovers and an inability to find easy looks on offence.

“I think we had some good moments offensively and got some good moments defensively, but I think over the course of the 40 minutes, we needed to be more locked in against a really good Australian veteran team who knows how to play basketball the right way,” Carleton said, per Canada Basketball. “Some lapses here and there, and that's what the difference was today.”

Though there wasn’t a frame as disastrous as the two-point second quarter against France, Canada’s scoring efficiency was similarly poor in this loss. Easy looks weren’t a common outcome for the Canadians as they finished 21-of-60 from the field, good for 35 per cent. It was only marginally better than the 32.1 field-goal percentage against France.

They also did better with ball security, turning it over 16 times, but the bar was rather low after a 25-turnover performance in the opener.

The good news is that both the turnover and shot-creating problems stem from one thing. The bad news is that the one thing Canada is missing is a true, experienced lead guard — not a problem easily solved.

Nirra Fields, the team’s usual go-to ball-handler, has been deployed only in limited minutes as she has been apparently dealing with an injury, Nabil Karim of CBC Olympics reported on the broadcast. She finished Thursday's game with zero points in five minutes.

To make matters worse, Canada’s other primary shot-creator Shay Colley seemed to get hurt in the closing minutes of the first quarter after getting fouled. At the free-throw line, her eye was clearly bothering her and she kept having to blink. She then took her spot on the bench and applied ice to her eye.

Though she returned in the second, it was clear that her play took a hit as she finished with only nine points on 3-of-7 from the field.

In the absence of its usual backcourt players, Canada deployed Sami Hill and Syla Swords in extended minutes and found some success, even taking the lead in the second quarter after Carleton’s third three-pointer of the early going. The pairing also did well defensively, staying in front of Aussie ball-handlers Whitcomb and Tess Madgen to slow down their attack in the first half.

Swords' contribution was especially promising, as the 18-year-old looked the part in her second-ever Olympic contest despite only scoring two points. Set to join the Michigan Wolverines next season for her freshman year of college, Swords and other young players like Cassandre Prosper, Laeticia Amihere and Aaliyah Edwards — who had four points, three steals and was a pest on defence — are key to the future of the program.

“It’s the training, the camps with WNBA players, I’m playing against them every day, sometimes two times a day," Swords told reporters in French, per the Canadian Olympic Committee. "So it’s hard to not get better and better every time I train with them. My teammates give me so much confidence to do what I want, to be who I am.”

Despite those strides, Australia continued to find the mark and went into the break up six points following a buzzer-beating three-pointer from centre Cayla George. Overall in the first half, the Aussies were five of nine from deep.

Then in the second, they dominated Canada on the easy looks inside, winning the points in the paint battle 40-24.

It got particularly bad in the opening minute of the fourth quarter as Achonwa was off on four straight free throws, missing an opportunity to cut Australia’s lead to only three.

Canada went scoreless for six minutes and 46 seconds between the end of the third and the start of the fourth. Though Hill ended the drought with a much-needed three-pointer, Australia’s lead had grown to eight points. Considering Canada’s inability to reliably score in bunches, that number seemed too high an obstacle to overcome.

Another back-breaking three-pointer from George was the nail in the coffin for the Canadians, as she drained the look with just under five minutes left to give the Aussies a 13-point lead.

Carleton lightened the load somewhat with a three-pointer in the dying seconds to cut the lead to only five and slightly improve its plus-minus tally, but the team enters the final gameday with a -26 differential and a big hole to climb out from.

“In a tournament like this, points matter,” Achonwa said, according to Canada Basketball. “And so we were going to, regardless of whether it was a win or loss, we knew we had to keep it close. So that's what we did. We weren't going to quit. We went from 12 points to five points. So it's a point spread when it gets close to it. So I'm just glad that we locked in, and we were really aware of that the whole time.”

UP NEXT

Canada will try to keep their Olympic hopes alive against Nigeria on Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET / 4:30 a.m. PT

Australia takes on host France on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT.

Here are details from the Canada-Australia game.

Fourth quarter

End of the fourth quarter: Australia 70, Canada 65

• 1:08 - Whitcomb gets to the rim and gets her own and-one finish, effectively putting the game out of Canada's reach. 70-58 Australia.

• 1:27 - Nurse finishes through contact for an and-one, breathing a little bit of life into Canada and cutting the deficit to single digits. 67-58 Australia.

• 1:48 - Once again, interior defence is letting Canada down. Steph Talbot attacks a closeout from the right corner gets Alexander to commit to her and then dumps it off to Tolo for an open layup. 67-55 Australia.

• 2:46 - Carleton continues to carry the red-and-white on her back. Gets a mid-range fadeaway to fall, cutting the lead to seven points following a 6-0 run and forcing an Australia timeout. 62-55 Australia.

• 4:56 - George hits a three after Canada had just called a timeout, giving the Boomers their biggest lead of the ball game. 62-49 Australia.

• 6:38 - Sami Hill knocks down a three for some much-needed relief after nearly eight minutes since Canada's last basket, bringing it back to a single-digit deficit. 55-47 Australia.

Third quarter

End of the third quarter: Australia 51, Canada 44

• 1:36 - Canada's defence has shown signs of slippage throughout the frame. Whitcomb penetrates through the lane with little resistance and hands it off to Isobel Borlase who gets a floater to drop, forcing Lapena to call a timeout. 49-44 Australia.

• 5:36 - Alexander seems to have Magbegor's number today. The Canadian draws another foul on the Aussies' starting centre, sending her back to the sideline with a fourth. 44-42 Australia.

• 6:55 - Back to regularly scheduled programming as Carleton knocks down her fourth triple of the game, one shy of tying the most by a Canadian in a single game at an Olympics. 44-40 Australia.

• 9:05 - Colley hits Canada's first non-Carleton three of the game. A nice response after Magbegor opened the half with a layup. 40-35 Australia.

HALF TIME

• Needless to say, a much better second quarter for Canada today than against France. The red-and-white are dealing with physicality much better, being the aggressor at many points. Canada may lack size, as seen with Australia's 27-17 rebounding edge, but it's drawn 12 fouls to more than makeup for that disparity.

• Sami Whitcomb leads all players at the half with 10 points on four-of-five shooting from the field with Canada's Bridget Carleton right behind with nine points on three made triples.

Second quarter

End of the second quarter: Australia 38, Canada 32

• 0:00 - Cayla George with an immediate response, getting three points the traditional way as she knocks down a triple at the halftime buzzer.

• 0:11 - Edwards pokes the ball loose from Marianna Tolo, dives for it, then hands it off to Alexander who finishes in transition...and-one! The 22-year-old's third steal of the first half. 35-32 Australia.

• 1:31 - Another timely basket for Canada, ending yet another 6-0 run by the Aussies. This time it's Aaliyah Edwards who gets a layup to fall for her first field goal of the game. 33-29 Australia.

• 5:17 - Nurse with an and-one underneath the basket! A big response by Canada after coach Victor Lapena called a timeout following a 6-0 run by Australia that had tied the game. 27-24 Canada.

• 7:21 - Moments after converting an and-one against Ezi Magbegor, Alexander draws another foul on Australia's starting centre and forces her to sit with three fouls.

• 8:47 - Another three for Carleton! The Chatham, Ont., native knocks down her third of the game to put Canada back on top. She's yet to miss from downtown. 21-18 Canada.

First quarter

End of the first quarter: Australia 18, Canada 16

• 0:01 - With the clock winding down, Carleton penetrates and kicks to Achonwa who knocks down a jumper from the left baseline to cap off a 5-0 run by Canada to end the frame.

• 3:06 - Carleton knocks down her second three of the first quarter. A timely bucket for Canada, it's first in nearly three minutes. 14-11 Australia.

• 4:17 - Alexander denies Lauren Jackson in the paint not once but twice! 11-8 Australia.

• 8:47 - Carleton breaks the stalemate with a three for the game's first basket. A welcome sight for the sharpshooter after her slow start and two-of-six shooting performance from distance against France.

• 10:00 - We're off! Australia wins the opening tip

Pre-game

• Canada is sticking with the same starting five of Shay Colley, Bridget Carleton, Kia Nurse, Natalie Achonwa and Kayla Alexander.