Canada Rolls Over Paraguay 77-26, Kalisha Keane With Another Impressive Performance
TOP PERFORMERS
Kalisha Keane: 15 Points
Lizanne Murphy: 11 Points
NEIVA, Colombia– The Senior Women’s National Team got off to a quick start and never looked back, defeating Paraguay (0-2) 77-26 on Monday afternoon. With the win Canada improved to 2-1 at the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship for Women.
“Today was a very tough game. Paraguay has a very different style than we see in North America,” said head coach Allison McNeill.
“I thought we did a good job in handling their penetration. They are very small, and sometimes it is difficult to play against small teams. Our defense was outstanding, holding them to only nine points in the second half. We have a day off tomorrow that we will use to get ready for Jamaica.”
Canada fielded a balanced attack, distributing the ball for 20 assists and getting everyone onto the score sheet. Kalisha Keane (Ajax, ON) led the way with 15 points, including going a perfect three for three from behind the arc. Lizanne Murphy (Beaconsfield, ON) added 11 points and Kim Smith (Mission, BC) dropped in ten.
“This was a really good win for us,” said Murphy. “Coming out of our loss to Brazil last night, we really wanted to work on our offensive execution. Our team can score and do a lot of great things on offence, so this was a good game to get our confidence up and show ourselves what we are capable of. Defensively, it was good for us to work on our penetration defense. They have a lot of quick guards, so it was good preparation for us moving forward.”
Canada ended the first quarter with an 11-0 run, finishing the period up 16 points. They continued a steady attack in the second quarter, closing the first half with a 43-17 lead.
With momentum in their favour, Canada sustained their aggressive play, attacking the basket and putting the clamps down on defence in the second half.
Kalisha Keane scored seven of Canada’s 19 points in the third quarter to help propel Canada to a 61-22 lead.
Tamara Tatham (Brampton, ON) and Murphy combined for nine of Canada’s 16 points in the final quarter.
Canada also got to work on the glass, collecting 49 rebounds, including seven by Kirsta Phillips (Saksatoon, SK) and eight by Tatham.
Canada held Paraguay to 22 percent shooting, and nine points total in the second half. Paraguay’s scoring output was the lowest of the tournament, so far.
Canada’s win over Paraguay will be broadcasted on TSN2 tonight at 8:00 pm ET (5:00 pm PT). Check local listings for details.
“We are just going to take our day off tomorrow to re-focus, rest up and get ready for Jamaica and head to the final four,” continued Murphy.
Canada will conclude preliminary play against Jamaica on Wednesday, September 28 at 7:00 pm local time (8:00 pm ET). The game will also be broadcasted on TSN2 at 10:30 pm ET (7:30 pm PT).
