Puisand Lai scored a team-high 20 points as Canada defeated Japan 48-36 on Thursday at the Women’s U25 World Championship.
Lai (Toronto, Ont.) added seven rebounds and three assists in the win. Elise Froese (Victoria, B.C.) chipped in 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine steals, while Bethany Johnson (Winnipeg, Man.) contributed five points, nine rebounds and five assists.
“Puisand showed amazing leadership to help the team refocus after the loss to Thailand and come out strong,” said Women’s U25 Head Coach Marni Abbott-Peter. “The team was disappointed after the game against Thailand, but we did a good job of learning from that game and improved against Japan.”
Canada (2-1) scored 24 points off turnovers and limited Japan to 34 per cent shooting from the field in the win.
“Our defence was outstanding, and we were able to capitalize on the turnovers,” Abbott-Peter added. “The group is feeling positive as we get ready for Germany.”
Japan opened the final period on a 4-2 run and cut Canada’s lead to 39-35 three minutes in, but Canada used a 7-0 surge to pull away late in the quarter.
Japan out-scored Canada 13-12 in the third quarter; however, Team Canada carried a 37-29 edge into the fourth.
Lai had 12 points and three rebounds as Team Canada led 25-16 at halftime. Canada opened the second quarter on a 6-2 run 4:43 into the period, with Lai leading the charge with four of the six points. Canada shot 40 per cent from the field through two quarters while limiting Japan to 7 of 24 shooting.
After the first quarter, Canada held a four-point lead, 13-9. Froese led Canada with eight points, four rebounds and four steals, while Lai had four points and two rebounds as Canada scored nine points off Japan’s turnovers in the opening period.
Full stats from Canada’s game against Japan.
Canada edged by Thailand
On Thursday morning, Canada fell to Thailand 41-37 at the 2023 IWBF Women’s U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship.
Lai led Canada with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Froese added 12 points, 15 rebounds and five steals in the loss.
Canada out-scored Thailand 15-5 in the fourth quarter, including an 8-2 run, but could not complete the comeback.
“It’s just a matter of narrowing our focus and dialling in our shooting,” said Abbott-Peter. “We’re pretty happy with the way we executed the game plan. Unfortunately, the shots didn’t drop..”
Thailand opened the second half on a 6-0 surge, pushing its lead to 12 1:36 into the third quarter. The host nation out-scored Canada 13-5 in the third and led 36-22 heading to the fourth.
Canada trailed 23-17 heading into halftime. Team Canada opened the second on a 5-0 run and led 17-10 midway through the second, but Thailand closed the half, scoring 13 unanswered to lead by six at the break.
Megan Smith (Vancouver, B.C.) had four points and three rebounds. Lai added four points and two assists, while Froese had four points and six rebounds through two quarters. Desiree Isaac-Pictou (Ugpi’ganjig First Nation) chipped in three points off the bench.
Canada scored four unanswered to open the game and jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Thailand battled back to tie 6-6 with three minutes remaining. Team Canada closed out the period on a 4-2 run to lead 10-8. Smith paced Canada with four points and three rebounds. Froese and Johnson added two points each.
Complete stats from the game can be found here.
Lead photo courtesy SA Images/IWBF
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Wheelchair Basketball Canada is the national sports governing body responsible for the organization of the sport in Canada. It is a non-profit, charitable organization committed to excellence in developing, supporting, and promoting wheelchair basketball programs and services from grassroots to high performance for all Canadians. Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, competitive sport in which Canada is held in high esteem worldwide for winning a combined six gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in the last eight Paralympic Games. For more information, please visit wheelchairbasketball.ca.
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