Tonight's match-up is a prelim to the upcoming event held this fall in the Czech Republic. The event was played at the Richmond Oval the site for the 2010 Olympic Speed Skating Championship.
Head Coach for team Canada is Allison McNeill who was born in Salmon Arm (and was a teacher in North Delta) in September 26/59 and has seen her share of international competition all dating back to 1998 at the world Youth Games in Moscow Russia.
As with any international event (regardless of the sport) the two teams exchanged gifts which is an indication what each country offers. This event was hosted by Basketball BC as well as the Richmond Oval, plus others. All played an important role in bringing this to Richmond.
The size of the building does not reflect the number of fans on hand taking in this game, to which one could guess around 500+, which wasn't too bad considering the weather and other events around the area.
Canada wears the normal White uniform with Red trim, while Sweden wears the Country Blue with Gold trim.
Upon arriving at the Oval, one get's lost looking for the parking meters in which to pay, but once located the rest is simple.
The court was set up directly center and the smell of hardwood was very prevelent throughout the building.
Canada's roster consisted of Kim Smith (Mission), Kelsey Adrian (Langley), Kaela Chapdelaine (Abbotsford), Leanne Evans (Port Moody) and Teresa Gabriele (Mission).
The first quarter was entertaining from the opening tip-off to the end whistle, but Sweden was up by a narrow score of 15-12.
The second quarter saw Canada get more aggressive, with even the odd comment from Allison McNeil who directed her remarks at the game officials. The second quarter Canada out scored Sweden by 10-7 and ended with Canada up 25-19.
Teams made some roster changes in the 3rd quarter, but the strongest part was played by Kim Smith, who plays pro for Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA.
The 3rd quarter saw Canada up by a margin of 43-28 with the edge going to Canada, who are simply out playing the counterpart.
Canada is managing to grab any lose balls thrown to the center of the court, creating some we set plays on the court.
Canada reached the 50+ mark at 7:42 in the 4th, but really never looked back from the first quarter. If one was to describe the overall play of Canada the word "focused" comes to mind.
The team continues to play moving while under the hoop which adds to the transistion style set in place by the Coaching staff, which is nice to watch.
Sweden managed to nail down a long three in the mid part of the 4th, but never really got any closer. Trading three pointers had Canada sink two immediately after the single three by the Swedish squad.
Canada's ability to force the play and create turn-overs held the Swedish team off the score board, thereby never really allowing them to get a "sniff" of the basket.
The game was well received by everyone attending, and it showed by the hand they received following the game.
Canada finished off Sweden by a solid margin of 65-33.
The team has been training the past six weeks in preparation for the FIBA World Championship (Sept. 23-Oct. 3) played in the Czech Republic and Canada is in a pool with Australia, China and Belarus.
All of Canada's preliminary round games will be played in the city of Ostrava.
Next game will be this fall and anyone wanting more info should visit http://www.basketball.ca/