Canada closed out the preliminary round of women’s basketball in Rio with a 73-60 loss to Spain.
Spain outscored Canada 24-13 in the final quarter.
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe of Vernon had nine points and seven rebounds for Canada, who finished 3-2 and in third place in Group B behind the U.S. (5-0) and Spain (4-1).
Canada played France (3-2 in Group A) in a crossover quarterfinal Tuesday night (after press time) with the winner likely to face the unbeaten U.S. in a semifinal on Thursday.
The Americans faced 3-2 Japan in a quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon and were leading 40-28 at the half.
The quarterfinals on the bottom half of the draw saw 2-3 Serbia upset 5-0 Australia 73-71 and Spain (4-1) playing Turkey (3-2).
The semifinals go Thursday with the gold-medal match Saturday.
Raincock-Ekunwe, 24, has strong ties to the Okanagan, as she graduated from Kalamalka Secondary School and her mother, Denny Raincock, resides in Penticton.
The 6-foot-2 Raincock-Ekunwe, who turns 25 on Aug. 29, will resume her professional career this fall with the Bendigo Spirit of the Australian women’s league. She spent much of the early part of the summer training in Penticton.
Canada was ranked ninth in the FIBA women’s world rankings. The Americans are the No. 1-ranked gold-medal favourites.
