EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada – The Canadian Women's National Team punched its ticket for the Rio 2016 Olympics, winning the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship. Canada beat Cuba 82-66 in Edmonton, Alberta on Sunday night.
“To do this on home soil, to do this in front of our fans, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Head Coach Lisa Thomaidis. "From the time we knew we were hosting this event and for it all to come true, it's just an amazing feeling.”
Kia Nurse, who scored 20 points, led the gold-medal effort for Canada. Miah-Marie Langlois shined, scoring 11 points with eight assists and only one turnover. Team Canada shot 53% from the field. Leidys Oquedo poured in 25 points to keep Cuba in it. For full box score, click here.
UCLA's Nirra Fields scored five points and had two blocks and one rebound in 11 minutes off the bench.
The first quarter saw a tight start for Canada, struggling to settle into their offense. Cuba used a mix of long-range attempts and rim attacks to carve out an 11-5 advantage through five minutes of play. Team Canada would be behind 22-19 after 10 minutes of action – the first time being behind after one quarter throughout the entire tournament.
A 16-0 Canadian run that started at the end of the first energized the sold-out Saville Centre and powered Canada to a 30-22 lead. Cuba turned the ball over and Canada flourished with the transition opportunities to find lay-ups and threes. After being down three, Canada turned it around to win the second quarter 25-13 and lead 44-35 at the half.
Cuba would not go quietly, starting the second half with an 11-0 run to regain the lead. But behind Langlois and Nurse, the Canadians took control. The guards blew by Cuban defenders to get open lay-ups to ignite the crowd. Cuba had no answer for the dynamic perimeter play and the Women's National Team held a 65-54 advantage after three periods.
With an Olympic berth on the line, Cuba dug deep, but Canada would not waver. For every Cuban bucket, Canada answered back to maintain their double-digit advantage. An and-one from Fields with 4:37 left put Canada up 75-60 and the lead would be too much. As the crowd chanted “Rio,” the buzzer sounded and Canada punched their ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympics with an 82-66 victory.
This is the first FIBA Americas win since 1995, where the Women's National Team won the tournament in Hamilton, Ontario.
The Rio 2016 Olympics will be Canada's sixth Olympics appearance. The Women's National Team last appeared at the London 2012 Olympics.
Cuba vs. Canada (2015 FIBA Americas Gold Medal Game)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Cuba | 22 | 13 | 19 | 12 | 66 |
| Canada | 19 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 82 |