Canada's Kayla Alexander defends against France's Gabby Williams in the women's preliminary round group B basketball match between Canada and France at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, on July 29.-/Getty Images
Kia Nurse was succinct in her evaluation of what went wrong for Canada’s women’s basketball team on Monday.
“Can’t turn the ball over,” she said after France thumped the Canadians 75-54. “We let them get to their strengths in transition early in the game and that was a problem.”
Canada coughed up the ball 25 times across the game, its first of the Paris Olympics. France capitalized, scoring 19 points off turnovers.
Marième Badiane paced the French with a game-high 13 points and Gabby Williams added another 12.
Nurse and Shay Colley each poured in 11 points for Canada, which struggled with shooting, making 32 per cent of its shots from the field and going 5-for-18 on three-point attempts.
“I think their ball pressure just really frazzled us on the offensive end and we weren’t able to get as much shots up,” Colley said. “But we’ll be ready for the next game.”
The Canadians started the game strong with Colley powering her way in for a basket in tight to open the scoring. The veteran guard from Brampton, Ont., drew contact on the play, then made her free throw for a three-point play.
The team held an 18-15 lead heading into the second quarter, but soon fell apart.
France went on a 22-0 run, including a three-pointer from Marine Johannès that drew wild cheers from the crowd 2:45 into the frame.
“We didn’t even realize [the run],” Williams said. “We didn’t even realize because it was really possession after possession. That showed us what we’ve been working on the last few months.”
Bridget Carleton of Chatham, Ont., put in a shot from the paint to stem the bleeding with 1:29 to go in the first half and France took a 38-20 lead into halftime.
During the halftime break, Canada’s head coach Víctor Lapeña urged his players to simply remember the basics.
“That we were forgetting everything,” he said. “Probably next game we understand the plan again we take care of the ball, we know how to beat the opponents.”
Carleton opened the third quarter with a three-pointer from the top of the arc that drew applause from a smattering of Canadian fans, and the team worked to find its way back into the game, outscoring France 16-15 across the frame.
The French defence continued to prove problematic, though, as the home team repeatedly pressured the Canadians into coughing up the ball.
“It’s just the ball pressure they apply,” Colley said. “They were up in our face for the whole 24 seconds we had the offensive possession.”
France led by 53-36 heading into the fourth quarter and boosted its lead to 23 points with less than three minutes to go when Valériane Ayayi sunk her first three-pointer of the game.
A boisterous crowd of 20,211 took in the game at Pierre Mauroy Stadium, cheering wildly across all four quarters.
“I think that’s a big reason why we had that run in the second quarter. Because the energy was really electric,” Williams said. “And normally I don’t notice the crowd but today that’s pretty much all I noticed. It was really fun.”
Many Canadian fans punctuated a sea of red, white and blue, waving the Maple Leaf. The Canadian men’s team, which won its tournament opener against Greece on Saturday, was among those watching from the stands.
For Colley, who played in the crowd-less Tokyo Olympics, the noise was “amazing.”
“It’s always great to play the home country in their home. So, it was loud, hard to hear at times, but it was a great atmosphere,” she said. “And you know, it’s just great to see a lot of people come out and support women’s basketball.”
Next up, Canada will face Australia on Thursday before closing out pool play against Nigeria on Sunday.
The 12th-ranked Nigerians upset the world No. 3 Australians 75-62 earlier on Monday.
The top eight teams from the combined rankings of the three pools will advance to the quarter-finals, scheduled for Aug. 7.
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