Cadette Women Take Bronze & Qualify for 2012 FIBA World Championships!

MERIDA, MEXICO– Canada’s Cadette Women’s National Team (CWNT) captured the bronze medal at the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Women with a convincing 53 – 36 victory over Puerto Rico on Saturday, June 18. With the win, the CWNT have secured their spot at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women in the Netherlands.

“The girls were very prepared for the game tonight and really executed our game plan,” said Head Coach Carly Clarke. “We had contributions from the whole group and our team defense was once again outstanding. We are extremely excited and proud to have qualified for the FIBA U17 World Championships and are excited to start preparing for next summer.”

Cheyanne Roger (Toronto, ON) completed an impressive tournament by leading Canada with 10 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Helping out defensively was Hannah Jardine (St. John’s, NL), who grabbed a game-high, 13 rebounds; as well as Emma Wolfram (Kamloops, BC) who chipped in with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

“This was a major learning experience for everyone,” said Co-Captain, Kia Nurse (Hamilton, ON), who led the team in scoring in the tournament. “It is an amazing opportunity to be able to see the world, compete on such a competitive stage and play the game we all love.”

This was the second time the CWNT had faced Puerto Rico in the tournament, both times coming out victorious. The CWNT led throughout the game, controlling the tempo offensively and pressuring Puerto Rico into difficult shots, holding them to a mere 21.7% shooting from the field. Throughout the tournament, Canada had shown dominance on the glass, and tonight was no different as they out-rebounded Puerto Rico 61- 48.

The CWNT maintained a comfortable lead in the first half, but only held a 22-19 edge at halftime. Early in the third quarter, Puerto Rico came within two points, but a 10-0 run, thanks to shot-making by Roger, Kolbie Orum (Maple Ridge, BC), Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (Gatineau, QC) and Anmol Mattu (Richmond, BC) stretched the lead to double-digits and the Cadettes never looked back.
For Puerto Rico, Claudia Ortiz Ledesma led the way with 10 points and 5 rebounds; while Gileysa Penzo Quinones chipped in with 9 points.

“We are proud of this team for continuing to build on the success of our age-group national teams has had over the past four years and qualifying a Cadette team to its 2nd consecutive FIBA U17 World Championship,” says Denise Dignard, Manager of Women’s Elite Development at Canada Basketball. “We are excited at the opportunity to have a team compete and represent Canada at the highest world level.”

This is the first time Canada has won bronze at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Women and the second time in a row that the CWNT has medaled and qualified for the FIBA U17 World Championship.

There was a prevalent representation of Canadians on the FIBA Americas U16 Championship leaderboard, led by Nurse, who ranked 3rd in tournament scoring (14.6 per game) and 5th in total free throws made (15). Roger ranked 3rd in rebounding (9.2 per game); while Wolfram ranked 3rd in free throw percentage (82.4%) and 3rd in total blocked shots (10).