SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) – After their third appearance in the FIBA Women's AmeriCup, the Canadian national team ranks up three wins with a combined advantage of 120 points. This performance has been good for an average difference of 43 points, including the team’s victories against Mexico on the first night with 56 points, 36 points more than Cuba, and 28 over the hosts, Puerto Rico.

Canada is the two-time defending champion team of the regional Americas tournament, after winning the 2015 and 2017 editions. This time, the Canadians already have a squad that is much closer to their ideal five. Now, they seek, like other national teams, to begin their early preparation toward a possible Olympic qualification to Tokyo 2020.

For Head Coach Lisa Thomaidis, this is a good example of the best version of the Canadian team, with a lot of depth and good speed to push the tempo of the game. “I think we have a good balance,” said Thomaidis after their victory against Puerto Rico. “We're scoring from the paint and throwing pretty well from the three-point line. We're trying to play with speed. We have a lot of talent in all positions, so we try to use that to our advantage as much as we can right now.”

Canada has seen a substantial contribution by several of their starting players, particularly Jamie Scott and Kayla Alexander. In three games, Alexander has been unstoppable, averaging a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, including her momentous game against Cuba, where she scored 23 points and recovered 15 rebounds. “She’s been excellent. We're really happy with her,” said Coach Thomaidis about Alexander. “She's a great presence for us from the paint and she really adds a dimension to our game that's needed to play in the highest level.” Jamie Scott, for her part, averages 15 points and 6 rebounds per game; while Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe contributes 12 more.

Regarding her immediate goals as head of the national team, Thomaidis gave cautious comments. She prefers to take things game by game and focus more in the process than in the result.

“(Our expectation) is to improve in each game and get as far as we can. We want to keep playing our best basketball and advance in the tournament. And certainly, play for the medal,” assured Thomaidis. “For us it’s too early in the process here and we try to improve in each game. I believe there are some things today that we need to improve. As I said, we just need to keep improving. The Dominican Republic is next on our list and we’ll start from there.”

Canada is part of the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup Group A with Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico.

Emmanuel Márquez
FIBA