DEBRECEN, Hungary — Canada's under-17 women's basketball team dropped an 84-82 decision to France on Sunday, to finish fourth at the FIBA World Cup.
"Today was a tough loss, but a great experience for our young athletes to be able to compete against three of the top teams in the world," Canada's coach Cheryl Jean-Paul said. "Unfortunately, the game didn't go our way, but we are so excited to see the future of this next generation of Canadian women basketball players and so proud of the effort that they gave us throughout the entire week of competition."
Delaney Gibbs had 25 points and five assists to lead Canada, while Cassandre Prosper, who was selected to the tournament's All-Star Five, finished with 18 points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocked shots.
Summer Bostock added 11 points and Toby Lee Fournier had nine points and seven rebounds.
"I can remember the very first meeting that we had as a team," Gibb said. "We set our goal as high as it could be right from the start. We were determined to win gold. Although that didn't happen, it's still such an honour to be able to represent Canada as the fourth-best team in the world for our age group."
France was led by Malonga’s game-high 28-point, 17-rebound double-double in the win.
Fournier led the tournament in rebounds per game, averaging 11.4 per contest, while Prosper finished fourth in scoring (14.0), seventh in rebounds (9.6), first in steals (4.6), second in blocks (3.0).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2022.
The Canadian Press
