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Tokyo 2020: Team Canada gets a vital win over South Korea

Team Canada or the Canadian women’s basketball team gets a vital win against the South Korean women’s basketball team. They now have a 1-1 record in their group. It was a close game in the first half, however, Canada pulled away in the second half.

Team Canada gets a first win in Tokyo 2020 against South Korea

Three keys to the game

Rebounding a key to Team Canada’s success

The Canadian women’s basketball team rebounding was terrific against South Korea. They won that battle 54-32. Most notably, in offensive rebounds, Canada had 22 while South Korea only had nine. This resulted in 15 second-chance points against South Korea. While not all of them went in, Canada ended up having a nine-point advantage over South Korea in second-chance points. An example of this was in the first quarter, where Shay Colley missed a layup. However, Natalie Achonwa was there to put the ball back into the net.

Another example was seen in the third quarter where Canada missed three consecutive shots but continued to get offensive rebounds. This ended up with Kayla Alexander scoring two points for Team Canada. Six players averaged more than one offensive rebound for Canada. Furthermore, Achonwa had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Also, Laeticia Amihere played well off the bench in terms of rebounds. She had three offensive rebounds today.

Bridget Carleton the player of the game

This very easily could have gone to Achonwa, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds. However, Bridget Carleton had a slightly better game. Carleton did not shoot well from the three-point line but otherwise had an excellent game. She still had a 55 percent field goal percentage against the South Koreans. Carleton also made all five of her free throws, which played a role in Canada getting a big win over South Korea. This included a three-point play, which happened early in the fourth quarter. Lastly, she had seven rebounds and four assists. This is comparable to Achonwa’s 10 rebounds and five assists.

An example would be in the first quarter. Carleton just three minutes in the game made a block of a South Korean shot and put the ball back into the net. This showed the intensity Canada had on defence throughout the game. In fact, they only allowed South Korea to have 24 points in the first half.

A strong second half

After the first half, Canada was only winning by five points. They scored the first six points in the third quarter. This extended the lead into double digits at the 7:14 mark in the third quarter. Achonwa and Carleton played a big role in making that happen in the third quarter. This resulted in a 10 point lead at the end of the third quarter.

They also made a 10-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter to solidify the win. Achonwa played a big role in the fourth quarter, making assists, blocks, and points for Team Canada.

Other factors for Team Canada getting the victory

When the game was close in the first half, Kia Nurse made a critical three in both the first and second half. She did not have a great night only scoring nine points. However, it shows the depth Canada has when their best player does not play her best game. Lastly, when the shots were not falling, Canada played well defensively especially at the start of the game. When they started to make those shots in the second half, they started to run away with the game and defeat South Korea.

The CBC announcers also praised the shot selection of Team Canada. This was shown in the video above where Alexander went straight to the basket and scored points in the second quarter. In the Serbia game, they settled for a lot of three-point attempts. In this game, they went straight to the basket and tried to make something happen. Also, blocks were another factor, Shay Colley for example blocked the shot in the 6:55 in the second quarter, which led to another Canadian possession. Colley had a decent game scoring nine points against South Korea.

The bench also played well. Alexander’s name was mentioned before. Nirra Fields, though also had a good game scoring six points. Canada had a six-point advantage over South Korea on the bench. Canada also never trailed once in the game against South Korea.

Team Canada gets vital win over South Korea – Overview

It was a tough game. However, Canada prevailed in an impressive 74-53 win over South Korea in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. They will now close their group stage against third-ranked and defending Olympic silver medalists, Spain. Spain defeated Canada in the 2016 Summer Olympics and eliminated Canada from the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.

The game between Team Canada and Team Spain will take place at 9:00 p.m. ET on July 31. It will be shown nationally in Canada on CBC. It will take place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

 

Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images

Raheem Bashir, Site Manager

Raheem Bashir, Site Manager

Raheem Bashir started blogging on a Gmail site called Blogger and has covered sporting events in rugby union/league and soccer. Since then he has become the Sports Events Guide writer for rugby, soccer, and previously basketball. He is also a member of the North American Soccer Reporters and The Rugby Union Writers’ Club. Raheem graduated from George Brown College with a Digital Media Marketing Post-Grad Certificate in 2019. From the same college, Raheem also did a post-grad certificate in Sport and Event Marketing in 2017. Lastly, he did an undergrad Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto in 2016.

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