16 ATHLETES ATTENDING FIBA WOMEN’S OLYMPIC PRE-QUALIFYING AMERICAS TOURNAMENT

TORONTO, Ont. (October 25, 2019) – Canada Basketball is pleased to announce the 16 athletes attending the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Americas Tournament in Edmonton next month.

“It’s always such an amazing experience when you get to have meaningful games played in Canada,” said Lisa Thomaidis, Head Coach, Senior Women’s National Team.  “With our road to Tokyo going through Edmonton, we couldn’t ask for anything more.  We are excited to showcase the team that we have put in place for these games, and know that the quality of the competition and the athletes that will be on display will not disappoint.”

The Edmonton EXPO Centre’s Hall D Arena will host Canada’s FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament from November 14-17.

Canada will face Cuba (November 14 7:30 PM MT), Puerto Rico (November 16 5:00 PM MT) and Dominican Republic (November 17 4:00 PM MT).  Click here for the full tournament schedule.

Tickets to cheer on Team Canada start at just $15 and can be purchased online through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.ca.  Day pass tickets grant fans access to both games of the double-header.

“We are excited to host the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament at the Edmonton Expo Centre next month and are tremendously grateful for the support of the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Events, Province of Alberta and Sport Canada for making this a reality,” said Denise Dignard, Director Women’s High Performance.  “It is always a special opportunity for our women’s team to play on home soil in front of Canadian fans.”

“Along with Alberta Basketball, the CEBL’s Edmonton Stingers and local partners, we are also committed to growing the game of basketball and inspiring the next generation of Edmontonians on the value of sport and living an active lifestyle,” Dignard said.

The newly developed Olympic pre-qualification tournaments will tip-off in November 2019 to qualify teams to the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020, and ultimately the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Africa will host one tournament, with the Americas and Asia-Oceania hosting two tournaments each.

22 national teams will take part in the upcoming FIBA Women’s Pre-Qualifying Tournaments to qualify for one of the four global FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020, taking place in February 2020.

For the Americas and Asia-Oceania regions, eight teams per region will compete for four spots (top two teams per group), at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020 in February next year. For Africa, six teams will fight it out for two qualifying spots.  Meanwhile in Europe the top six teams from the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2019 will qualify directly to the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020.

These 16 top teams will compete in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020, taking place in February 2020, which will be split into four groups in a draw held later in the year.

The top three teams from each tournament will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Women’s Basketball Tournament. Both the USA (FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2018 champions), and Japan (hosts), will play in the qualification tournaments and regardless of their results advance through to Tokyo 2020.

This is the start of an exciting new women’s competition system for FIBA, with more than 100 teams taking part in the new system, that will also include a new qualification system for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022.  For more information about the Women’s National Team Competition System, click here.

A full list of athletes, coaches and team schedule can be found below.

Media interested in attending training camp can email Matt Walker (mwalker@basketball.ca) for additional information. Accreditation for the FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament is now open via the FIBA Media Portal.

Canada is currently ranked 5th worldwide in the FIBA World Ranking Presented by NIKE and have participated in the past two Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016).

SENIOR WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM FIBA WOMEN’S OLYMPIC PRE-QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT ATTENDEES

Name Position Height Hometown 2019-2020 Club / School
Natalie Achonwa

Forward

6’3″

Guelph, ON Indiana Fever (WNBA)
Kayla Alexander

Forward

6’4″

Milton, ON Chicago Sky (WNBA) /

Cukurova Mersin (Turkey)

Laeticia Amihere

Forward

6’4″

Mississauga, ON South Carolina (NCAA)
Miranda Ayim

Forward

6’3″

London, ON Basket Landes (France)
Bridget Carleton

Guard

6’1″

Chatham, ON Minnesota Lynx (WNBA) /

Townsville Fire (Australia)

Shay Colley

Guard

5’9″

Brampton, ON Michigan State (NCAA)
Quinn Dornstauder

Centre

6’4″

Regina, SK Zamarat (Spain)
Aaliyah Edwards

Forward

6’3″

Kingston, ON Crestwood Prep (OSBA)
Kim Gaucher

Guard

6’1″

Mission, BC Mondeville (France)
Ruth Hamblin

Centre

6’6″

Houston, BC Dynamo Novosibirsk (Russia)
Sami Hill

Guard

5’10”

Toronto, ON Donau-Ries (Germany)
Miah-Marie Langlois

Guard

5’8″

Windsor, ON Dynamo Novosibirsk (Russia)
Kia Nurse

Guard

6’0″

Hamilton, ON New York Liberty (WNBA) /

Canberra Capitals (Australia)

Shaina Pellington

Guard

5’8″

Pickering, ON Arizona (NCAA)
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe

Forward

6’2″

Toronto, ON New York Liberty (WNBA) /

Nadezhda Orenburg (Russia)

Jamie Scott

Guard

5’10”

Clarkston, WA Dynamo Novosibirsk (Russia)

SENIOR WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM FIBA WOMEN’S OLYMPIC PRE-QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT COACHES & STAFF

Name Position Hometown Affiliation
Lisa Thomaidis Head Coach Dundas, ON University of Saskatchewan
Steve Baur Assistant Coach Sackville, NS Canada Basketball
Carly Clarke Assistant Coach Halifax, NS Ryerson University
Max Hirst Coordinator, Performance Analysis Collingwood, ON Canada Basketball
Lauren Buschmann Sports Scientist & IST Manager St. Catharines, ON Canada Basketball/CSI-Ontario
Rhonda Shishkin Physiotherapist Saskatoon, SK University of Saskatchewan
Danielle Dobney Athletic Therapist Toronto, ON York University
Bryce Tully Mental Performance Consultant Halifax, NS CSC-Atlantic
Marni Wesner Lead Physician Edmonton, AB University of Alberta
Anne Marie Thuss Team Manager Hamilton, ON McMaster University
Denise Dignard Director, WHP Port Cartier, QC Canada Basketball
Mike MacKay Performance Manager, WHP Truro, NS Canada Basketball
Elaine Sun Manager Women’s Basketball Operations, WHP Thornhill, ON Canada Basketball
Matt Walker Communications Manager Ancaster, ON Canada Basketball

SENIOR WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM FIBA WOMEN’S OLYMPIC PRE-QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

DATE ITEM

TIME (MT)

 LOCATION
November 14 Canada vs. Cuba

7:30 PM

FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 

Edmonton, AB

November 16 Canada vs. Puerto Rico

5:00 PM

November 17 Canada vs. Dominican Republic

4:00 PM

 

SOURCE: Canada Basketball

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