OLYMPICS DAY 3: CANADA DOWN GB

By John Hobbs
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Updated: July 30, 2012

Great Britain’s womenÂ lose 73-65 to Canada in their second game at the Olympic GamesÂ .

GB guard Nat Stafford hit 13 of her 15 points in the first half as the sides traded leads seven times before the Canadians ground out a 36-32 cushion at half-time.

Their lead grew to seven but Tom Maherâ€™s side hit back with Andersonâ€™s drive cutting the deficit to 55-53 at the end of the third period.

A 6-0 GB run in the fourth pushed the hosts ahead but some late lapses proved costly as Canada pulled off a 13-2 tear that saw them surge to victory.

“It’s just another loss, maybe it puts a bit more pressure on us,” said Leedham, who also scored 15.Â

“We have a tough group but we have threeÂ games left, that’s three games to win.Â We are not out, weÂ still have threeÂ games.”Â

After an opening two minute scoring drought, Courtnay Pilypaitis opened the scoring for Canada for three which was immediately responded byÂ Leedham.

A 6-0 run for the Brits with four of those points coming from foul line as GB held an early 8-5 lead.

Canada though responded to lead 9-8 when fantastic team play from GB inside with sublime link-up play from Julie Page and Kim Butler set up Stafford for the easy lay-up, giving Great Britain a 10-9 lead but the Canadians ended the quarter strong and led 19-15 after the first period.

GB felt the buzz from the passionate home support as a 7-0 run in the early exchanges of the second, capped by a triple from Leedham gave GB a 22-21 lead.

Canada retorted with a 6-0 burst of their own to lead 27-22 as GB were a little static on defence allowing for easy shots from their Canadian counterparts.Â

The hostsÂ though struck back; a three from Stafford pulled her side to 29-28 as the passionate 8,563 crowd got behind the hosts.

Pilypaitis hit for three towards the final minutes of the half as Canada looked to finish strong, but Stafford caught them out as the final seconds wound down in the half as GB trailed 36-32.

Team GB were spirited in the third, but the Canadians seemed to have an answer whenever Tom Maherâ€™s side got close.

Leedham buried a three to trim the gap to 46-42 only for it to be cancelled out by a three from Thorburn. GB then found a light as they posted a 6-0 run from there – highlighted by a baseline shot from Kim Butler to narrow the deficit to 49-48.

Like they did in the second, BritainÂ finished the third positively with a strong play by Edinburgh-born Rose Anderson to end the quarter with the Brits only trailing 55-53 after three.

Leedham highlighted an 8-2 GB run mid-way through the fourth as they led 61-57 but Canada came back and a bucket from Kim Smith put them up 63-61 and they never relinquished their lead from there.

Thorburn led Canada with 18 points.

Great Britain next play EuroBasket winners Russia on Wednesday afternoon.

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