Canada rise high past host nation Hungary

SOPRON (Hungary) - Canada wasted little time in going to work at the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Sopron as they jumped all over local favorites Hungary 67-55.

 

 

On top from the tip-off, they took control early and managed to keep their opponents' at arms length to leave home supporters disappointed.

Turning Point: Simply, there wasn't one. Canada led from tip to buzzer as they powered their way into a commanding early 25-11 advantage.

TCL Player of the Game: Kayla Alexander typified Canada's powerful approach and stance with a super double-double of 15 points and 13 boards.

Stats Don't Lie: Hungary only made 2 of 14 from long-range and they needed better than that to recover from their pedestrian paced opening. However being out-boarded by 50-32, including giving up 17 offensive rebounds was a mega-scale disappointment to say the least.

Bottom Line: Canada were physically dominant and set the tone against a Hungary frontcourt that had numbers but struggled to impose themselves as expected.  The victory could go a long way to catapulting Canada towards the Olympic Games and especially as it was double-digits. 

Hungary might have had opening night nerves and a slow start was always a possibility. But on paper this looked it might have been their best shot. Now they will have to bounce back and show mental fortitude - especially in the paint. 

They Said: "I thought it was a really hard fought game. For our team I'm proud of the way that we competed. I think we did a good job on the boards and taking second chance opportunities. It was also nice to get back on the court and to play together as a team," Canada frontcourt ace, Kayla Alexander

"I am happy to see how the team played today. My players showed they are really strong mentally. I think we dominated and we had control of the game. I was very happy with the intensity." Canada head coach, Victor Lapena.

"It was the kind of first game that we expected. It obviously felt like we had a little of the jitters in the beginning of the game. We could see that when not scoring for almost seven minutes. We gave so many offensive rebounds to Canada." Hungary center, Dorka Juhasz

"It is a great experience for us to be here for sure. We are going to improve in this tournament. We played not bad after the first quarter, especially in defense. But Canada is a very experienced team and they knew what to do." Hungary playcaller, Norbert Szekely

FIBA