A couple of field goals here. Some made free throws there.
It’s how close Canada was to advancing to the playoff round in women’s basketball at the Tokyo Olympics.
But results on the final day of preliminary round action leave the Canadian squad on the outside.
Canada, whose lineup includes former Kalamalka Lakers MVP Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, finished preliminary round play in Group A Sunday, Aug. 1, with a 76-66 loss to Spain, which is ranked No. 3 in the world (Raincock-Ekunwe, four points, six rebounds for Canada). Canada ended up at 1-2 in the group and in third place.
The top two teams in each of the three, four-team pools advanced to the quarterfinals, along with the two best third-place teams, decided by point differential.
Canada, France and Australia were the third-place finishers in the pools. France lost its final game, 93-82 to the U.S., while Australia dumped Puerto Rico 96-69. Taking into account the points for/points against differential for the three group stage games for each country, Australia and France’s point differential was +10, Canada was +7.
Australia will play the U.S., China will meet Serbia, Japan takes on Belarus and Spain will face France in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Aug. 4.
Spain finished atop Group 1 at 3-0, Serbia was second at 2-1. The U.S. won Group B at 3-0, Japan was 2-1, and China took Group C, undefeated at 3-0. Belarus was second.
Canada’s 1-2 record with the +7 differential gives them ninth place out of 12 for the tournament.
READ MORE: Canada advances to Olympic women’s soccer final with 1-0 win over United States
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