Canada Basketball announces roster for women’s Olympic pre-qualifying tournament

Canada Basketball announced its roster Friday for the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament, taking place Nov. 9-12 in Medellín, Columbia.

The 12 athletes named to Canada’s senior women’s national team are Natalie Achonwa, Kayla Alexander, Laeticia Amihere, Bridget Carleton, Shay Colley, Quinn Dornstauder, Nirra Fields, Sami Hill, Aislinn Konig, Kia Nurse, Cassandre Prosper and Syla Swords.

The team will be led by head coach Víctor Lapeña.

“We’re really excited to bring our team back together and to represent Canada once again on the world stage,” said Lapeña. “The Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament will provide us with a great opportunity to compete against some of the best countries in the Americas, as we continue working toward our goal of qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.”

Canada will be competing for one of the two available spots at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, which are set to take place in February. There will be four tournaments as 16 teams compete for the 10 tickets remaining to the 2024 Paris Olympics. France and USA are the two nations who have already qualified.

Canada is scheduled to face Venezuela on Nov. 9, Colombia on Nov. 10 and Puerto Rico on Nov. 12.

The senior women’s national team is currently ranked fifth in the FIBA World Ranking.

from Sportsnet.ca https://ift.tt/iCDUAfG