ANKARA
Canada defeated Mozambique 69 – 54 and Australia destroyed Cuba 90 – 57 on Saturday to start off the FIBA women’s basketball world championship taking place in Turkey.
In Ankara Arena, Canada took advantage of Mozambique's poor shooting performance – only 9 out of 32 shots made in 2-point territory—to snatch the win in Group B.
Currently ranked 9th in the FIBA world rankings for women, Canada mainly relied on the play of Tamara Tatham, Miah-Marie Langlois and Kim Gaucher who each scored 11 points. Gaucher also pulled down 7 rebounds.
For Mozambique, ranked 38th, shot 38.5 percent from 3- point land but it proved insufficient. Rute Muianga scored 14 points and Deolinda Ngulela added 13.
In the Abdi İpekci Arena in Istanbul, the Aussie ladies breezed through Cuba, with Penny Taylor scoring 20 points. Rachel Jarry added 13 points.
Australia shot with 51.7 percent from the field, compared to Cuba’s lowly 28.6, to take control of Group C.
Turkey will face against France at 19:00 local time (1600GMT) in Ankara Arena.
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