Kia Nurse scored 14 points off of the bench to lead Canada past Senegal 68-58. Tamara Tatham added 13 as the Canadians won three games in a single Olympics for the first time in team history. Aya Traore led Senegal with 24 points.
Senegal leads early, Canada takes control late in first quarter, maintains advantage
It was the African side that got off to the better start, holding Canada scoreless for the first 3:45 of the game while building a 5-0 lead. Kim Gaucher finally got the Canadians on the board with a layup at the 6:15 mark. Canada's defense clamped down, holding Senegal scoreless for a 3:33 stretch, only allowing five more points the rest of the quarter while building a 17-10 lead after ten minutes.
Canada maintained a working margin throughout the second quarter and a Miah-Marie Langlois jumper gave them their first double-digit lead of the game at 24-14. The Senegalese pulled to within six late in the quarter, but baskets by Langlois and Nurse stretched the Canadians lead to nine, 33-24 at the half.
Canada's offense stalls, holds on for the win to reach the quarterfinals
Both teams offenses went cold to start the second half, but Canada's offense picked up a bit and a Nurse layup gave them their largest lead of the game at 44-32 with 5:12 to play. Back-to-back jumpers by Tatham and Natalie Achonwa extended the Canadians' lead to 50-34 and Senegal had seen enough, calling a timeout. That seemed to work as they scored five points in a row, only to see Canada match them and hold a 55-41 lead after 30 minutes.
As the fourth quarter began, Canada's offense once again disappeared, going the first 4:55 without a field goal, their offense consisting of just three free throws. In that span, Senegal cut the lead to 58-52, but they would get no closer. Canada saw the game out to advance to the quarterfinals for the second straight Olympics.
Next games
Canada next plays on Friday against the United States. Canadian coach Lisa Thomaidis knows the Americans pose a stiff challenge: "We've played them once, they're the class of the competition, they're the best team in the world and we're certainly aware of that," Thomaidis said. "For us, it's a chance to measure ourselves against the best again, and every time you get to play against teams that are betting than you, you get a chance to improve."
Senegal will also return to action on Friday against Spain.