Carleton leads unbeaten Canadian basketball women to FIBA World Cup quarter-final berth
CBC
Bridget Carleton had 19 points and Canada's women's basketball team beat Japan 70-56 on Sunday to remain undefeated at the FIBA World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
No. 4 Canada (3-0) clinched a berth in the quarter-finals with the victory. The Canadians earned World Cup bronze in 1979 and '86, and were quarter-finalists at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Shay Colley added 13 points, Laeticia Amihere finished with 10, and Kayla Alexander grabbed 11 rebounds.
Carleton, a forward for the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, also had six rebounds.
Maki Takada scored 11 points to lead 10th-ranked Japan (1-3), the reigning Olympic silver medallists.
WATCH | Carleton paces Canadian offence in victory over Japan:
The Canadians next face Australia (2-1) on Monday, then wrap up the preliminary round against Mali (0-3) on Tuesday.
Canada went scoreless for the first four minutes but took the lead for good late in the first quarter and headed into the second up 20-12.
Japan sliced Canada's lead to three points with 4:17 left in the first half, but the Canadians closed with a 13-0 run to lead 41-25 at the break.
Canada's smothering defence forced Japan into 10 first-half turnovers.
Canada kept up the momentum in the third quarter, and Carleton's three-pointer with 1:19 to play sent the Canadians into the fourth with a 61-39 lead.
The Canadians opened the World Cup with a 67-60 win over Serbia and then beat France 59-45.
Australia defeated Serbia 69-54 earlier Sunday.
The semifinals are Sept. 30, with the medal games the following day.
