Canada Downs Mexico 77-31 To Open 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women

Colorado Springs, Colo. - June 23, 2010

Box Score

Canada (1-0) dominated from start to finish and earned a 77-31 win over Mexico (0-1) in the opening game of the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women on June 23 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Led by 15 points from Laura Dally, Canada outrebounded Mexico 52-27 and was more aggressive in attacking the basket, which resulted in a 26-of-33 free-throw performance compared to Mexico's 3-of-8 from the charity stripe.

'We played farily hard,' said Canadian coach Rich Chambers. 'We are still not shooting the ball very well. We are missing so much inside stuff. The girls just aren't used to international contact. But we rebounded the ball well, got after it defensively, ran the floor and handled pressure a little better, so it was a good start. We got a couple maybe serious injuries, so that's the only downside.'

Canada sufferd injuries to Micaella Riche and Kellie Ring, who will be further evaluated.

Coming out of a timeout at 3:32 in the first period with the score 13-6 in Canada's favor, the North Americans launched an 11-5 run to take a 24-11 lead into the first quarter break and never looked back. Canada outscored their opponent 19-8 in the second period, 17-5 in the third and 17-7 in the fourth to bring the game to its final of 77-31.

Megan Lukan and Michelle Plouffe added 10 points for Canada, and Rashida Timbilla grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Mexico was led by 13 points form Medina Tostado.

Canada continues pool play against Chile at 11:00 a.m. (all times MDT) and Mexico will play Costa Rica at 1:15 p.m. on June 24 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.