Kia Nurse had 17 points and Canada’s offence erupted for 24 points in the fourth quarter to edge Nigeria 73-72 on Sunday in the seventh-place game at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Miah-Marie Langlois added 14 points, including the eventual deciding free throw with 11 seconds left, and sank 3-of-4 three-point attempts for the Canadians. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe chipped in with 10 points.
Canada was ranked No. 5 in the world heading into the tournament and went 3-0 through round robin to win its group. But the Canadians fell out of medal contention with a quarterfinal loss to No. 2 Spain on Friday.
They also lost Saturday’s consolation bracket opener against China, relegating them to the seventh-place game.
Atonye Nyingifa led Nigeria with 17 points and Evelyn Akhator had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Trailing by three points with a few seconds left, Nyingifa drove for a layup instead of attempting a potential tying three-pointer. She followed up her own miss with a putback just before the buzzer, but Nigeria finished a point short.
Canada led 21-17 after the first quarter but scored just nine points in the second to head into halftime down 35-30.
Both teams put up 19 points in the third, putting Nigeria up 54-49 heading into the fourth quarter.
Even with the loss, it was a record-breaking performance for Nigeria. The team became the first African nation to reach the quarterfinals and win three games in the tournament.
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