Bridget Carleton and the Canadian Women’s National basketball team are headed to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The team got an 80-50 victory over Sweden on Saturday to secure their spot in the Tokyo 2020 Women’s Olympic Basketball Competition.
Though Canada won by 30 points, Sweden kept things close throughout the first half. Leading 37-31 at the break, Canada started the second half reenergized and began to pull away. Winning the third quarter 22-10, Canada took a 59-41 lead into the fourth where they continued to roll. After opening the final frame on a 17-3 run, Canada extended the lead to 32 points on a layup from Pellington with 3:52 remaining. Canada finished the game outscoring Sweden 43-19 in the second half.
“We’ve experienced the whole gamut of qualification,” head coach Lisa Thomaidis said in a press release. “A last minute, grind it out [qualification] in 2012, the last possible berth we eked out. Then onto 2016, where we took care of business in Canada and got it done, now for the first time in our tenure, to do it on foreign soil. I just said to the team, to qualify with a 30-point victory is pretty special. I think it really speaks to how far this team has come. I couldn’t be happier for this team and these players.”
This will be Canada’s third consecutive trip to the Olympic Games.
Up next for Canada is a matchup against Japan on Sunday, February 9 at 12:05 P.M. ET. This will be their final game in the tournament.
CBC Sports will broadcast all three of Canada’s games. Fans can also catch the action streaming live in Canada on the CBC Gem app and DAZN. ESPN+ will carry Canada’s games in the United States.
