The Canadian women defeated Bolivia 73-15 on Friday morning at the Americas Cup to conclude the preliminary round in São Paulo with a perfect 3-0 record. Arinn Young led all Canadian scorers with 14 points, and four rebounds as all 11 members of the team registered a point. “It’s one of my favourite things about the sport when we can get our whole team to score, and it’s just really rewarding – everyone feels a part of the game, a part of the moment,” said Young. “That’s just one of my favourite things about the sport.” Élodie Tessier chipped in nine points, while Cindy Ouellet added eight points, four rebounds, and four assists. Kady Dandeneau scored eight points, five rebounds, and three assists. Aurélie Jacob-Verreault contributed eight points. Canada shot 31 of 53 from the field and scored 25 points off Bolivian turnovers. “With the different lineups that we had out there today, we were working on different feels, different types of passes, working on our non-dominant hand, and it was really rewarding to see,” Young said. “Our steals were really clean, so once we have a harder game, we’ll be better prepared.” Melanie Hawtin, who played professionally in France this season, contributed five points in the victory. It was an opportunity for the Oakville, Ont. native to showcase what she worked on in her game during the regular season. “My teammates in France really helped me fix my shot, so it’s fun to kind of see that in a tournament,” Hawtin said. “It’s the first time that I’ve come back from France and then played a major tournament and kind of see how my shot is performing.” Canada now awaits the conclusion of the preliminary round to determine their semifinals opponent. Full stats from Friday’s victory can be found here.
Press release & photo: Wheelchair Basketball Canada