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Bridget Carleton scored a game-high 24 points as Canada erased a 19-point deficit, but ultimately fell 71-69 to Turkey in the FIBA women’s World Cup qualifying opener Wednesday in Istanbul.
Calgary’s Yvonne Ejim had 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Canada. Carleton of Chatham, Ont., also had five rebounds and two assists.
The Canadians were outscored 36-26 in the paint at the Turkcell Basketball Development Center.
Canada countered with strong perimeter defence and timely shooting, while holding Turkey to 2-for-16 from three-point range. Canada converted 8-for-22 for 36.4 per cent from beyond the arc.
Canada fell behind 43-24 early in the second quarter before cutting the margin to single digits with a 16-4 run.
Canada took a 64-63 lead with 3:59 left in the game when Shaina Pellington finished a transition opportunity thanks to a steal by Aaliyah Edwards.
But Turkey overtook Canada again before the final buzzer.
“A tough game, but I’m proud of our fight and our resilience to get back into it,” Carleton said. “Shots weren’t falling in the first half and our offence was a little chaotic, but we stayed together, made it a game and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Canada’s next opponent is Hungary on Thursday.
“We have to flush this quickly,” Carleton said. “We play again in less than 24 hours against a really good Hungarian team that just won today. We’ll learn from this and be better tomorrow.
“That’s the fun of these environments — we’ve been here before, and we know how to respond.”
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