EDMONTON (FIBA World Championship for Women) - Canada head coach Lisa Thomaidis has expressed her excitement at what lies in wait after revealing the 12 players who have made it onto the roster for the FIBA World Championship for Women.

With less than a fortnight to go, the play-caller is preparing to make her coaching debut at a global tournament and has now put her faith in the players she hopes can catapult her team out of a tough looking Group B in Ankara.

She said: "After a fantastic summer of preparation, we are excited to have selected our team that will represent Canada at the World.

"These women have shown tremendous dedication and commitment to our programme and we are excited to go and showcase what we've been working towards.

"We have a great mix of youth and experience on this team.

"We have several players who have experience playing at a World Championship and Olympic Games.

"We also have others who will be experiencing this level of competition for the first time in their careers and we are looking forward to a fantastic tournament," added Thomaidis.

The two names which stand out in terms of being rookies on the senior global stage are Kia Nurse and Nirra Fields.

The former is a teenage starlet who lit it up at youth level, including at the 2012 FIBA U17 Championship for Women and was then thrust into action at the FIBA Americas Championship for Women last year and excelled to help take the team all the way to the Final.

Fields meanwhile has just completed a standout second year in the NCAA for UCLA, pouring in over 17 points per game for the Bruins and this will be her first opportunity with the seniors.

There are also first outings for Miah-Marie Langlois, Katherine Plouffe and Krysten Boogaard - meaning almost half of the team will be playing on a global stage for the first time in their careers.

Meanwhile Michelle Plouffe returns having played at the 2012 Olympics, prior to missing the silver medal action in Mexico last year.

Seven of the team that reached the Final in Xalapa return, including guard Kim Gaucher who again offers her veteran 'know-how'. Miranda Ayim, Tamara Tatham and Lizanne Murphy are all on board and will offer their usual reliability in the paint.

The two players to miss out in the final reckoning were Kayla Alexander and Ruth Hamblin.

Thomaidis and her team are preparing to play the USA in an exhibition game on Monday and will then play a final preparation tournament in Logorono against hosts Spain and Cuba before eventually heading to Turkey.

Canada squad for FIBA World Championship for Women: Miranda Ayim, Krysten Boogaard, Nirra Fields, Kim Gaucher, Miah-Marie Langlois, Lizanne Murphy, Kia Nurse, Courtnay Pilypaitis, Katherine Plouffe, Michelle Plouffe, Tamara Tatham, Shona Thorburn.

FIBA