Canadian women’s team wins first bronze at U19 basketball World Cup
UDINE, Italy — Laeticia Amihere had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead Canada to a 67-60 victory over Japan for the bronze medal at the FIBA under-19 women’s World Cup on Sunday.
It was the Canadian women’s first medal at the U19 level. Canada’s senior women’s team finished third twice at world championships (1979 and 1986), while the U19 men’s team earned its first gold medal at the World Cup in Egypt earlier this month.
“We are so happy to be leaving here with the bronze medal,” said Canada’s captain Alyssa Jerome. “It was a tough game as Japan put up a really great battle. We all wanted to leave here with a medal, so we worked really hard to do that.”
Hailey Brown added 12 points and Hanna Hall chipped in with 10 for the fourth-ranked Canadians, who were knocked out of contention for gold with a semifinal loss to Russia on Saturday. Japan lost its semi to the defending champion United States.