Canada women's national basketball team

The Canada women's national basketball team participated in basketball at the 2015 Pan American Games held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 10 to 26, 2015. Canada opened the preliminary rounds with an easy 101–38 win over Venezuela. The following day they beat Argentina 73–58. The final preliminary game was against Cuba; both teams were 2–0, so the winner would win the group. The game went down to the wire with Canada eking out a 71–68 win.[1] Canada would face Brazil in the semi-final.

Canada opened the semi-final with an 11–2 run on seven consecutive points by Miranda Ayim. Miah-Marie Langlois contributed five assists. In the third quarter Canada strongly out rebounded Brazil and hit 69% of their field goals to score 33 points in the quarter. Lizanne Murphy and Nirra Fields hit three-pointers to help extend the lead to 68–39 at the end of three-quarters. Canada continued to dominate in the fourth quarter with three-pointers by Nurse and Kim Gaucher. Canada went on to win the game 91–63 to earn a spot in the gold-medal game against the USA.[2]

The gold-medal game matched up the host team Canada against USA, in a sold-out arena dominated by fans in red and white and waving the Canadian flag. The Canadian team, arm in arm, sang Oh Canada as the respective national anthems were played.

After trading baskets early the US edged out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter. However the Canadians, with the home crowd cheering, tied up the game at halftime. In the third quarter Canada outscored the US 26–15. The lead would reach as high as 18 points. The USA would fight back, but not all the way and Canada won the game and the gold-medal 81–73. It was Canada's first gold-medal in basketball in the Pan Am games. Kia Nurse was the star for Canada with 33 points, hitting 11 of her 12 free-throw attempts in 10 of her 17 field-goal attempts including two of three three-pointers.[3][4][5][6]

Canada participated at the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship, a qualifying event used to determine invitations to the 2016 Olympics. The games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in August 2015. Canada was assigned to Group A and played Puerto Rico, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Cuba in the preliminary rounds. Canada won the first three games easily with a 94–57 win over Puerto Rico is the closest match. The final preliminary round game was against undefeated Cuba, a team Canada had faced in the Pan Am games. Cuba played well in that event and was expected to challenge Canada. However, Canada defeated Cuba 92–43 to win first place in the group for a spot in the semi-final against the second-place team in group B, Brazil.[7]

The semi-final game against Brazil was much closer. Canada led by only six points at halftime but gradually expanded the lead to end up with an 83–66 win, and a spot in the gold-medal game.[8] The gold-medal game was a rematch with Cuba who won their semi-final game against Argentina. Despite the lopsided result in the preliminary rounds, Canada expected a closer game. Cuba started off strong and had an eight-point lead early in the game. Canada responded with a 16–0 run to take over the lead, but Cuba responded and took a small lead early in the second half. Then Canada took the lead back and gradually expanded the lead to end up with the win, 82–66. As the game wound down to the close, the crowd was chanting "Rio","Rio","Rio" in recognition of the fact that the win qualifies Canada for the Olympics in Rio in 2016.[9][10]

• 1976 – 6th place
• 1984 – 4th place
• 1996 – 11th place
• 2000 – 10th place
• 2012 – 8th place
• 2016 – 7th place
• 2020 – Qualified

• 1971 – 10th place
• 1975 – 11th place
• 1979 – Third place
• 1983 – 9th place
• 1986 – Third place
• 1990 – 7th place
• 1994 – 7th place
• 2006 – 11th place
• 2010 – 12th place
• 2014 – 5th place
• 2018 – 7th place
• 2022 – TBD

• 1955 – 5th place
• 1959 – 4th place
• 1963 – 4th place
• 1967 – Third place
• 1971 – 5th place
• 1975 – 5th place
• 1979 – Third place
• 1983 – 4th place
• 1987 – Third place
• 1991 – 4th place
• 1995 – Cancelled
• 1999 – Second place
• 2003 – 4th place
• 2007 – 4th place
• 2011 – 6th place
• 2015 – First place

• 1989 – Third place
• 1993 – Third place
• 1995 – First place
• 1997 – 5th place
• 1999 – Third place
• 2001 – 4th place
• 2003 – Third place
• 2005 – Third place
• 2007 – 5th place
• 2009 – Third place
• 2011 – Third place
• 2013 – Second place
• 2015 – First place
• 2017 – First place
• 2019 – Second place

• 2018 – 4th place

• Canada v Belgium - Highlights - FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020 - Youtube.com video