Canada’s U18 Women’s team has finished atop Group A at the FIBA U18 Women’s Americas Championship with an 89-55 win over Argentina.
Lemyah Hylton was a handful from the first whistle, but Argentina gave Canada the biggest test yet throughout the first quarter with a hot start defensively and shooting 75 per cent from the field through the first five minutes, leading to a 12-7 Argentina lead.
T’yana Todd continued to lead from the bench and her first made three of the game stopped Canada’s two-minute scoreless streak, and Jasmine Bascoe followed suit with a three to tie the game within seconds of checking in. Emma Koabel got in on the action finding her first three shortly after, ending the quarter up 26-23.
The three-point barrage continued for Canada in the second quarter with Hylton’s hot streak extending out beyond the arc, and Canada began to slowly pull away from Argentina throughout the quarter while shooting 46 per cent from deep.
The Canadians would take a 50-36 lead into half time with contributions coming from throughout the entire line up.
Todd led all scorers with 17 points, which makes her the second highest scoring player throughout group phase. Mary-Anna Asare and Marah Dykstra each had 13 points with Dykstra registering another 13 rebounds for a double-double. Bascoe had 12 points, Fatima Diakhaté had 11 and Hylton and Koabel each had nine points.
Both teams came out of half looking slow throughout the first few minutes, but Canada once again took the reins of the game on another Bascoe three pointer that led to a 21-point lead for Canada who dominated in every statistical category. The lead would balloon throughout the end of the third and fourth quarter with Argentina seemingly tiring out after three games in three days.
The win leaves Canada alone at the top of Group A, and after a day off on Thursday they will return to face El Salvador, who finished fourth in Group B, in the quarterfinals on Friday night.
Quarterfinals schedule click HERE
Game 3: Canada vs. Argentina BOXSCORE click HERE & video below.
