Canada loses to Australia, falls to 0-2 in women’s basketball

The Canadian women’s basketball team is in danger of an early exit at the Olympics.

Canada fell to 0-2 with a 70-65 loss against Australia on Thursday.

If Nigeria beats France later on Thursday, Canada will be eliminated.

If France wins, the Canadians have to beat Nigeria on Sunday to have any hope of earning a quarterfinal berth. The top two third-place finishers (a team’s record is the first tiebreaker, followed by point differential) join the top two teams in the three groups in advancing to the quarterfinals.

Bridget Carleton led Canada with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Kia Nurse added 12 points.

Australia (1-1) went on a 9-0 run in the first quarter that put them up 14-8, but Canada regrouped and slowly chipped away at the deficit before taking the lead early in the second.

The Aussies rallied and took a 38-32 advantage into the break. While the Canadians trimmed the deficit to two points in the third, they couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole.