Canada Finish Sixth in Under-19 Women's World Cup
It was the last day of the 2019 Under-19 Women's World Cup in Thailand, and the day when all teams would earn their final standing in the tournament. Canada were out of medal contention, but played China in the game for fifth place.
The day before Canada overcame a tentative and back-and-forth game against Japan, surviving a late scare to emerge victorious 62-59, with four players reaching double-digits for the winning team. Beating Mali 67-54, China had also earned the right to play-off for fifth place.
In the game itself, Canada found themselves on the back foot early on after China went eight points clear in the first quarter. Every time Canada tried to close the gap, China opened it back out again. They regularly led by double digits in the contest.
Canada had good bench production and were led by Taya Hanson’s 15 points, while Brynn Masikewich was one rebound shy of a double-double (11 points, 9 rebounds). However, they were overpowered by the Chinese offence, led by the game's top scorer Yuan Li (23 points). Their opponents also saw great work on both ends from Jiyuan Wan (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Mingling Chen (13 points, 11 rebounds).
In the end Canada would have to settle for sixth place, falling 72-64 to China, who finish in the position above them. Later in the day, Spain won the bronze medal having trailed Belgium at half time, but turned it around to come out on top 58-52.
The final saw Australia try to take down the USA in what would be a back-and-forth battle from beginning to end. The Americans dominated possession while the Australians had the edge in the paint. Forty minutes of play could not separate the teams and overtime was needed, in which Hayley Van Lith and Rhyne Howard gave the USA a late push to put them within touching distance of the trophy.
Despite their top scorer Jazmin Shelley (18 points) doing all she could to not let it get away from them, Australia's offence dried up in overtime. Fran Belibi put up the last points to see the USA finish ahead 74-70 and reclaim their FIBA Under-19 Women’s World Cup title - their eighth in total.
Aaliyah Edwards was the standout player for Canada in the tournament - the top scorer with 11.4 points per game on 47.5% field shooting as well as a team-high 6.7 average total boards.
For full statistics on every game and all the information on the tournament, pay a visit to the official FIBA Under-19 Women's World Cup website.
Picture:FIBA.com
