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Canada battles hard but falls to Serbia in 2020 Tokyo Olympics opener

Despite forcing 28 turnovers, Canada failed to capitalize, falling 72-68 to Serbia to open-up the 2020 Tokyo games.

nirra fields layup not enough as canada battles hard but falls to serbia at 2020 tokyo olympic games
nirra fields layup not enough as canada battles hard but falls to serbia at 2020 tokyo olympic games

It was a tough opening game for the Canadian senior women’s national team as No. 4 FIBA-ranked Canada fought hard, but dropped a close 72-68 opening game to No. 8 Serbia to start the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Trailing 38-26 at half-time, following an abysmal first-half shooting performance, sparked by back-to-back three-pointers by Shay Colley and Kia Nurse,.Team Canada turned-up the defensive pressure outscoring Serbia 17-9 in the third-quarter to tie the game at 45-45.

Serbia scored the first five points of the fourth-quarter, but Canada quickly rallied to take a brief 56-55 lead, before Serbia knocked down five straight three-pointers in the last five minutes of the game.

Nirra Fields scored a game-high 19 points to lead three Canadians in double-figures. Kia Nurse finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Shay Colley contributed with 12 points before being forced to leave the game with right shoulder injury she picked-up from diving for a loose ball.

The entertaining game featured 14 lead changes and seven ties, Canada trailed for the majority of the game, leading only for 5 minutes and 33 seconds. Canada forced 28 Serbia turnovers leading to 23 fast break points.

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Canada couldn’t buy a bucket, shooting a cold 24-of-63 (38%) from the floor and extremely poor 5-of-24 (20.8%) from the three-point line and further hurt themselves by shooting 15-of-23 (65.2%) from the foul-line.

Serbia’s excellent ball movement consistently found open shooters on their way to an efficient 26-of-52 (50%) shooting night and 8-of-17 from threes and 12-of-15 from the charity stripe.

Team Canada (0-1) will play Korea (0-1) on Wednesday, July 28, in their second-game of the Olympics tournament.

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