After running riot over Mali with a 63 point win last night, Canada failed to match the might of the French team, losing by 56-47 in a Group D fixture
France dominated the game from the get go and never allowed the Canadians to come closer than six points after the first few minutes.
They started off with a 7 point unanswered run which was extended to 13-2. The Canadians managed to get going on the offense after that, but were unable to nip the French charge and trailed by 21-11 after the first 10 minutes.
The North Americans outscored their opponents 7-4 to start the second quarter and were trailing by 25-18 with 5:49 remaining in the half, but the French responded with a 19-9 spurt bridging the second and the third quarter to take
a 44-29 lead, their biggest of the night.
Team Canada bounced back with seven straight points to make it an eight point game, but 4 consecutive points meant that France led by a dozen after three.
Canada put up a good fight at the start of the fourth, starting it with an 8-2 run, to bring the deficit down to 50-44. However, after that the shots just stopped falling and France eased to a 56-47 win.
The French connected on 42.7 percent of their field goal attempts and were led by 15 points and 5 rebounds from their centre Isabelle Yacoubou. She went 5 of 7 from the two point range and had the same conversion rate from the
charity stripe. Sandrine Gruda also had a good night with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
The Canadian had a horror shooting night. They managed to convert only 13 of their 53 two point attempts and were 1 for 8 from the three point range. After the initial French onslaught, they never really managed to get in their
groove.
There was little to separate the two teams in terms of rebounds and assists, but the Canadians did commit 5 less turnovers than the Europeans, at 14.
France will now take on Mali tomorrow night, looking to head in to the next round with a clean chit.
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