The Canadian U17 team has finished fourth at the FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup after a heartbreaking 84-82 loss in the bronze medal game.
France took control of momentum early in the first quarter, and it appeared as if they would take a sizable lead going into the second quarter, but a late flurry from Canada made it 23-20 on a bucket inside from Deniya Prawl.
Delaney Gibb stepped up big time in the final game and had her best showing of the tournament, scoring a team-high 25 points, in addition to dishing out five assists, and grabbing two rebounds.
Cassandre Prosper cemented her place on the tournament’s All-Star Five lineup by stuffing the stat sheet one final time. She finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
Canada was able to tie the game up at 27 a piece mid-way through the second quarter, but an outstanding performance from Dominique Malonga, who had 28 points, 17 rebounds, and two blocks, kept France in the driving seat through halftime, where they led 45-37 over Canada.
Along with Malonga, France got another standout performance from Marine Dursus, who poured in 22 points and three steals.
The Canadians would battle back once again in the third quarter to take the lead off a three-point shot from Gibb, and the two teams would be locked in a close battle for the final 12 minutes of the game. Canada led 78-77 with two minutes remaining, but Malonga took the lead for the final time by muscling inside for a bucket and denying Prosper at the rim the next play.
With a minute left, the Canadians desperately needed a stop, and Prosper came up with a huge crunch time steal, transition bucket, to get Canada within two. Prior to Prosper’s bucket, Canada’s final fouls were used to send France to the line, where Dursus essentially clinched the bronze medal for France.
Team USA took the Gold medal with an 84-62 win over Spain
USA’s JuJu Watkins was named tournament MVP
Dominique Malonga, Cassandre Prosper, Iyana Martin Carrion, Jaloni Cambridge and JuJu Watkins
Bronze medal game: Canada vs. France boxscore click HERE.
Bronze medal game: Canada vs. France livestream link below:
