The Canadian Women opened the Commonwealth Games with a 17-1 victory over Kenya on Saturday afternoon.
Kady Dandeneau led the way with seven points and nine rebounds.
“I think we stuck to the things that we do well,” Dandeneau said. “We do a lot of pick-and-rolls well, and I think we did that quite well. We stuck to what we know.”
Tamara Steeves added four points and four rebounds, while Tara Llanes chipped in four points and three rebounds in the victory.
“It was a good game to get the bugs out – just feel what the court feels like – we hadn’t been on the main court,” said Llanes. “Feel the wind, which was a factor. You don’t think it is under there, but the flags are whipping, so you see a shot online, and then it’s completely not. So it was a good first game for us to feel things out.”
Up next, the women wrap up the Pool Round portion of the schedule on Sunday when they face England at 11:45 a.m. ET.
Full stats from Saturday’s win can be found here.
On the men’s side, Canada defeated Northern Ireland 13-5 on Saturday afternoon to conclude their Pool Round play.
Colin Higgins paced Canada with six points and six rebounds in the win.
“Today was a lot of fun,” said Higgins. “We knew what to expect; we hit a couple more shots and played some good defence. It’s good to get that win.”
Bo Hedges finished with four points, and seven rebounds, and Vincent Dallaire added three points and three rebounds in the victory.
Canada now awaits the conclusion of the Pool Round play on Sunday to determine their Monday opponent.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” Higgins said. “It was tough losing the nail-biter yesterday, two-point game; it came down to the last possession. We knew we had to really amp up our game, and luckily, we were able to do it. Hopefully, it’s enough to get us through to Monday.”
Full stats from the win over Northern Ireland can be found here.
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