The Spanish women’s basketball team defeats Canada and goes to the quarterfinals as the first in the group

It has cost the girls of Lucas Mondelo, but they have ended up beating Canada in a somewhat strange game, marked by the ups and downs of the Spanish team and by the tenacity of the Canadian team, which at no time was released on the scoreboard and kept pushing to put Spain in distress at the end of the crash. [Así hemos vivido la jornada del 1 de agosto en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020].

The great game of players like Astou Ndour, Cristina Ouviña or the final triples of Alba Torrens placeholder image They ended up giving the Spanish basketball team their third victory in three games, allowing them to advance to the next round of the Olympic tournament with that well-deserved and longed-for first place in the group. [Canadá 66-76 España: Narración y estadísticas].

The effort in this match has been almost titanic, since Canada did not let go or lose by 20 points, which forced Lucas Mondelo’s girls on a day in which outside success was lacking, but where the circulation of the ball and the work in the area yes they were excellent.

The game started very well for Spain, showing a lot of fluidity in the offensive game and doing damage with quick transitions to Canada, which was somewhat run over by the overwhelming start of the Spanish. In addition, in defense they did not have too much trouble. Lucas Mondelo’s girls faced the match knowing that they were already classified for the quarterfinals, but they wanted to win to be first in the group. The coach took advantage of the situation to test different defensive systems.

On the track, the connection between Laura Gil and Astou Ndour wreaked havoc on painting. Since there was no exterior success, at least the battle in painting was for Spain. The first differences were opened for Spain (11-17) who ended the first quarter with some problems in the middle distance shot, as already happened in the debut against Korea. +10 victory to finish the first set.

In the second, the forces were a bit more equalized, as Spain came out somewhat more stuck in attack. Even so, the good work in the offensive rebound and in the points after the loss of the rival allowed the difference not to decrease. The party of Ndour and Cristina Ouviña, once again, was being stellar. Spain was still moving the ball very well on the outside, but the success in the triple was not coming. The last arreón of the Mondelo team left the game at halftime with a positive result of 34-40.

As the scorekeeper showed, Canada was not letting go at any time and in the third quarter came the best example of that irreducible spirit. Spain went all out in the second half, opening up even more income on the scoreboard thanks to the omnipresence in the basket of an Astou Ndour who is being one of the best players in the tournament.

Even though they weren’t loading the rim with too many shots, circulation was still excellent with Queralt Casas in command as conductor. The level shown by Spain in many moments was spectacular, stretching the lead to 20 points. In addition, the defensive intensity did not fall, always very active and pending to get hands on compromised balls and the receptions of the rivals.

The final blow

Such was the improvement in Spain that they began to find success from the triple with a very inspired Cristina Ouviña. However, the third quarter ended with some scare due to a series of losses that caused Canada to re-engage in the game before the end. Even so, the income grew with respect to the rest with the 47-60.

Already in the last quarter, Canada went desperately to try to reduce the difference and left some final minutes of tension. However, everything calmed down thanks to two triples from Alba Torrens that appeared at the right time. For her part, Cristina Ouviña took command of the operations to lead Spain to its third victory. 15 points and 7 assists for her for Ndour’s 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Canada 66-76 Spain

Canada: Nurse (14), Colley, Carleton (9), Rancock-Ekukwe (4), Achonwa (9) -the starting quintet-, Fields (9), Pellington (3), Alexander, Amihere (10) and Ayim (6) .

Spain: Domínguez (4), Ouviña (15), Torrens (12), Gil (8), Ndour (20) -the starting five-, Casas (8), Carrera (6), Cazorla (2), Conde and Palau (1 ).

Partial: 13-23 | 21-17 | 13-20 | 19-16
Referees: Jung Yu (TWN), Leandro Lezcano (ARG) and Yevgeny Mikheyev (KAZ). Without eliminated.
Incidents: match corresponding to the third day of Group A of the women’s basketball tournament, played at the Saitama Super Arena, without spectators due to health measures against the coronavirus pandemic.

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