Russell leads Canada past Latvia 65-51 in opening game of under-17 World Cup
MINSK, Belarus — Merissah Russell had a team-high 11 points with five rebounds to lead Canada past Latvia 65-51 on Saturday in their opening game of the FIBA under-17 Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Sarah Te-Biasu scored nine points and added four assists for Canada. The Canadians will face Angola on Sunday.
“To start the tournament with a victory is obviously great, but more importantly we showed some mental toughness against a team we had lost to previously by establishing ourselves defensively as a unit, playing inside to outside, and rebounding voraciously at both ends,” said head coach Jodi Gram. “The challenge now is to make sure we improve again tomorrow against Angola.”
Latvia’s Laura Meldere put up a game-high 20 points in the loss.