TORONTO, Ont. (May 13, 2021) - Canada Basketball is pleased to announce the 20 athletes invited to attend Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team training camp (May 20-June 4) ahead of the FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2021, June 11-19, 2021.

“Next month’s FIBA Women's AmeriCup will be an important step in our preparation and a critical evaluation opportunity for us ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” said Lisa Thomaidis, Head Coach, Senior Women’s National Team.  “Having stayed connected virtually over the course of the past 14 months, the team is really looking forward to sharing the court together once again and building on the positive momentum we had coming out of the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament last February.”

The FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021 will be played June 11-19 in San Juan's historic Coliseo Roberto Clemente and fans in Canada can catch all the action live on DAZN.  

Canada was originally scheduled to train this summer ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Edmonton, the home of the Senior Women’s National Team since 2013.  However, as a result of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and current quarantine protocols for training in Canada, the team will relocate their training camp to Tampa, Florida.  

“I’d like to thank our long-standing partners at the City of Edmonton for their understanding throughout this process,” said Denise Dignard, General Manager/Executive Vice-President, Women's High Performance.  “Our players and staff truly consider Edmonton to be a second home and the on-going support the City has provided our team has been crucial in our rise from 13th to a program-best 4th in the FIBA World Rankings.”  

“We look forward to coming back to Edmonton as soon as we are able, but know our passionate fans will be behind us and cheering the team on for every step of our journey this summer,” Dignard said.

Over the course of the past few weeks, Canada Basketball has worked closely with the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment - a long term partner in growing the game of basketball in Canada - to arrange for access to the team’s temporary training facilities in Tampa.

“On behalf of Canada Basketball and our Senior Women’s National Team, I’d like to extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to our partners at the Toronto Raptors for their generous offer to host our team and provide a first-class training environment as we continue to prepare for the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup and ultimately the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” said Glen Grunwald, Canada Basketball President & CEO.

Winners of two of the last three AmeriCup competitions, Canada has found a spot on the podium in eight of the last nine competitions dating back to the 2003 FIBA Americas Championship for Women in Culiacan, Mexico.

The draw for the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021 will be held on this month in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Beyond Canada, the field for the competition includes defending champions USA, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, who were the best ranked teams in the sub-zone according to the FIBA Women's World Rankings, as well as Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic and El Salvador who qualified from the Centrobasket Women’s Championship in March.

The FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021 will begin with a Group Phase, where teams play a round-robin format for four days. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals of the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021, where the top team of Group A will play the second team of Group B and the top team of Group B will play the second team of Group A. The winners of the semifinals will go-on to play for the continental title on June 19th.

This event is one of four Women's Continental Cups, which will qualify 16 teams (four from the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2021) for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournaments from February 6-14, 2022.  The top three teams from each Qualifying Tournament will advance to the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 in Sydney, Australia from September 22 - October 1, 2022.  For additional information on the Women's National Team Competition System, click here.

Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team remains ranked fourth in the FIBA World Ranking Women, presented by Nike, after the rankings were updated following the conclusion of the February window of the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers.

SENIOR WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM AMERICUP TRAINING CAMP INVITES‍

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="746"><tbody><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p><strong>Name</strong></p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p><strong>Position</strong></p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p><strong>Height</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Hometown</strong></p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p><strong>Club / School</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Natalie Achonwa*</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Forward</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'3"</p></td><td><p>Guelph, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Minnesota Lynx (WNBA) / Famila Schio (Italy)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Kayla Alexander</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Forward</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'4"</p></td><td><p>Milton, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Mithra Castors Braine (Belgium)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Laeticia Amihere</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Forward</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'4"</p></td><td><p>Mississauga, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>South Carolina (NCAA)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Miranda Ayim</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Forward</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'3"</p></td><td><p>London, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Basket Landes (France)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Bridget Carleton*</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'1"</p></td><td><p>Chatham, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Minnesota Lynx (WNBA)</p></td></tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Shay Colley</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">5'9"</p></td><td><p>Brampton, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Charnay (France)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Quinn Dornstauder</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Centre</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'4"</p></td><td><p>Regina, SK</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Cadi La Seu (Spain)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Aaliyah Edwards</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'3"</p></td><td><p>Kingston, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>U Conn (NCAA)</p></td></tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Nirra Fields</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">5'7"</p></tedd><td><p>Montreal, QC</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Antalya 07 (Turkey)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Kim Gaucher</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'1"</p></td><td><p>Mission, BC</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>USO Mondeville (France)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Ruth Hamblin</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Centre</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'6"</p></td><td><p>Houston, BC</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Politechnika Gdanska (Poland)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Sami Hill</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">5'10"</p></td><td><p>Toronto, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Nantes Reze Basket (France)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Aislinn Konig</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">5'9"</p></td><td><p>Langley, BC</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Fribourg (Switzerland)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Miah-Marie Langlois</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">5'8"</p></td><td><p>Windsor, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Unattached</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Kia Nurse*</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'0"</p></td><td><p>Hamilton, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Phoenix Mercury (WNBA)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Shaina Pellington</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">5'8"</p></td><td><p>Pickering, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Arizona (NCAA)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Daneesha Provo</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'0"</p></td><td><p>Dartmouth, NS</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Eisvogel Freiburg (Germany)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Forward</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">6'2"</p></td><td><p>Toronto, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Lyon ASVEL (France)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Merissah Russell</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">5'11"</p></td><td><p>Ottawa, ON</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Louisville (NCAA)</p></td></tr><tr><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Jamie Scott</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">Guard</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p align="center">5'10"</p></td><td><p>Pasco, WA</p></td><td nowrap="nowrap"><p>Tarbes (France)</p></td></tr></tbody></table>

* Unavailable to attend this phase due to WNBA regular season