So you say there’s a chance? Breaking down Canada’s loss to Australia and how they can still advance at Paris Olympics

Hours after Canada lost 70-55 to Australia, France’s 75-54 victory over Nigeria fanned the weak embers for Canada.

Canada (0-2) will have to beat Nigeria (1-1) in the final Pool B game Sunday morning, at the very least. After that, it’s up to other results and points differential after the group games are done to determine the automatic qualifiers from Pool B and, possibly, a third qualifier from the group.

“We have another game, 40 minutes to play,” Canada’s Natalie Achonwa told reporters in France. “We can control the outcome, the possessions, our defence, our effort, and our energy. We can’t control how the other games play out. So, right now, our focus will be on Nigeria, the 40 minutes that we get to dictate.”

Canada has to win and there will need to be some tweaking all around for that to happen. They have been nothing more than OK when excellence has been demanded, and there were games for the taking that were not seized.

The loss to Australia was telling.

• The Canadian women shot 47 per cent from three-point range but only 31 per cent from inside the arc.

• They forced 20 Australia turnovers but committed 16 of their own.

• They got to the free line 24 times but missed eight foul shots.

A lot of good. Far too much bad.

“We came out with more energy, we were very disruptive on the defensive end, and we got what we wanted on the offensive end,” Canada’s Aaliyah Edwards told reporters in Lille, France.

“We were in control of the game for the first half. Second half, we just let it slip, we didn’t control the game. We couldn’t control the controllable, and they scored off of our mistakes, pretty much.”

Got some shooting

Bridget Carleton, a 44 per cent three-point shooter with the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx this season and one of the league’s top six distance shooters, got on track for Canada.

The Chatham native made five of seven three-point attempts — tying the mark for the most made threes in a game by a Canadian woman in the Olympics — and led Canada with 19 points.

But outside of Carleton, Canada made just two threes in eight attempts.

Poison in the paint

Canada’s ineffectiveness near the rim was costly. A team that works best off post touches and scoring inside went just 12-for-31 from the paint (a disastrous 39 per cent) and played away from its strength.

Veteran centre Kayla Alexander, who can be dominant at the rim, was only able to get seven field-goal attempts in nearly 33 minutes.

Australia had something to do with that by denying easy entry passes but Canada’s offence lacked any side-to-side movement or inside-out action.

“We had the shots, we have the layups, we have these options, but we didn’t make it,” Canadian coach Victor Lapeña said. “I think this is the key. We need more than 65 points to beat Australia. We need more than 70 or 75 points to beat France. We are working really hard on them. What they have is all my confidence to take their shots.”

Next generation arriving

The arrival of teenager Syla Swords and 22-year-old Aaliyah Edwards on the Canadian horizon may be the most significant development in Paris.

Swords, not yet a university freshman, and Edwards, about midway through her WNBA rookie season, combined to give Canada nearly 38 minutes of energetic play off the bench,

They only combined for six points, two rebounds and two assists but they did change the tempo with their play. Edwards also had three steals.

The rotation, though. was a bit out of whack. Lapeña used 11 players, which is a lot. (Only Yvonne Ejim didn’t play.) Three of them — Laeticia Amihere, Cassandre Prosper and Nirra Fields — played fewer than six minutes each. It was hardly enough time to break a sweat, let alone have a true impact on the game.