Canada send Brazil crashing to their fourth successive loss – London Olympics Women Basketball Recap
The Canadian women basketball team improved their chances of making it to the next round of the competition by defeating Brazil 79-73 here at the London Olympics.
Brazil, looking for their first win of the tournament, staged a great comeback in the third period after trailing at halftime. They outscored the Canadians 28-16 in the period to come back into the match, but lost a toughly contested final quarter to eventually lose the game.
Kimberley Smith led five Canadian players with double digit points, scoring 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists to the tally. Smith went 6 of 9 from the field and created problems for the Brazilian defense all the way.
Courtnay Pilypaitis also finished with 14 points, going 6 of 10 from the field. Erika D'Souza scored a game high 22 points as she tried to prevent the fourth consecutive loss for Brazil in the tournament. However, her valiant effort came up short. She also had 12 rebounds for the night to register a double double.
The first half of the opening period was pretty much balanced, the scores tied at 8 with 4:12 remaining in the period. However, Canada went on a 10-0 run from there on to close the period, initiated by a three point shot by Pilypaitis.
Canada took an 18-8 lead into the second period as Brazil missed their last 4 field goal attempts, committed 3 turnovers and went scorless for the last 4 minutes of the first period.
Brazil tried to close the gap all throughout the second period, but every time they got close, the Canadians answered to extend the lead back to a comfortable cushion. Joice Rodrigues hit a two point shot to cut the deficit to 25-29, but Canada finished the period with a 10-0 run and took the game right out of the hands of the Brazilians. Canada led 39-25 going into halftime.
Brazil came back into the game with a big third quarter, scoring 10 straight points to go on a 10-0 run and cut the deficit to only 1 point, with Canada leading 50-49. Smith scored a three pointer for Canada in the final seconds of the game but Clarissa Dos Santos hit a buzzer beating two pointer to have her team trailing Canada by just 53-55 going into the final period.
Brazil took the lead early on in the final period with a three point play by Dos Santos. The two teams remain locked in a great fight in the ensuing passage, before successive three point shots by Pilypaitis and Shona Thorburn gave Canada a 70-63 lead with a little over four and a half minutes left to play.
Brazil tried their best to retake the lead but Canada scored points at crucial junctures inside the final few minutes of the game, and held on to take a 79-73 victory.
Canada was hot from the field, going 52.6% for the night. Both teams failed to connect from the three point line, and Brazil had a35-29 advantage in rebounds. Canada had 10 more assists at 24, and Brazil had 32 free throw attempts compared to 15 for the Canadians.
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