Via Sportsnet

TORONTO (Aug. 14) — At every level, expectations for Canada's basketball program have reached new heights in recent years — anything less than a podium finish seems like a disappointment.

The Canadian women's under-23 team took the first step to making good on that promise on Wednesday, demolishing Brazil 104-56 in their opening game of GLOBL JAM at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

With more players than ever suiting up at the NCAA level and an overflowing pipeline of hoopers starting to feed into the more senior ranks, Canada managed to get contributions throughout its roster, with five players scoring in the double digits.

Leading the way was Avery Howell of Boise, Idaho, who netted 19 points along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals while shooting seven-for-10 from the field.

"She’s an incredibly hard worker. She’s out there running the floor, competing every chance she gets. I thought she did a great job finding some open space today, and her teammates found her for some early threes, which got her going," Canada coach Carly Clarke said after the win. "And she’s finding some different ways to score, I think she’s still gotta improve on her handle and some decision-making on the dribble, but she’s such a knockdown shooter if she gets open, and she knows to be shot-ready every time she catches it."

Howell, who is heading to Washington next season after transferring from USC, is one of the biggest risers in the last year for Canada's program.

She made her presence known from tip-off, scoring on the opening possession with one of her game-high five triples of the night.

"I think with this group, the past week at practices, it was a lot of work in building that trust. Obviously it’s a new group, so I think I definitely earned that, but I think I also space the floor to try to give them open drives as well," Howell said about what it takes to maximize her shooting with this group. "But this team, this week, has done a very good job of finding each other and trying to make the most of the shots we get."

Helping out all over the court was Surrey, B.C.'s Tara Wallack, who finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Captain Yvonne Ejim, of Calgary, added 11 points, four rebounds and five assists, while Merissah Russell of Ottawa had 16 points.

Wallack got the party started early for Canada, netting nine of the team's first 12 points, including two three-pointers in the opening minutes to help her team build a 10-point lead.

Canada's early lead ballooned to 20 with two minutes to go in the quarter, as following Wallack and Howell's pace, the Canadians continued to rain down shots from deep, hitting six three-point looks in the opening frame.

They took decidedly more attempts from deep in the opening frame than not, shooting 13 triples to only seven two-pointers to turn a blowout start into a blowout finish. On the night, Canada shot an efficient 35-for-61 (57.4 per cent) from the field and 17-for-34 (50 per cent) from three-point range

Despite Brazil's inability to keep up with Canada's dominant offence, team captain Isabella Nascimento managed to lead the way with 25 points on 11-for-23 from the field. No other Brazilian player scored more than six.

Canada's familiarity also played a big role in this one, as chemistry developed from playing together at past tournaments helped the team to 10 assists on all 10 of the team's made field goals in the first.

"We’ve really been emphasizing unselfish play, making the extra pass, playing with great spacing. I’m really thrilled to see how the ball is moving," Clarke said about the team's willingness to swing the rock. "Yvonne and Tara found some great looks, [Phillipina Kyei] shared it out of the low post when she got doubled, Shy [Day-Wilson] moved it in transition. So, it wasn’t just from one player, everybody was making the unselfish play."

As a whole, they finished with 36 assists on 35 made field goals due to FIBA regulations granting assists on made free throws, with Shy Day-Wilson leading the way with six.

Canada began to exploit more looks inside as the game went on, with Kyei and her six-foot-eight frame setting strong screens for pick-and-roll operator Kyrah Daniels to get going.

The red and white built up a 30-point lead late in the second quarter off one of those looks, with Kyei setting a high screen, Daniels using it to perfection and swinging the rock to Howell, who was left open in the weak-side corner after her defender was forced to help on Daniels as part of the earlier action.

They went into halftime holding onto that 30-point lead, a gap that Brazil would be unable to overcome, squaring off against Canada's efficient shotmakers.

Complementing Canada's high-powered, fast-moving offence was a hounding defence, muddying Brazil's possession and forcing them into unfriendly looks all night long.

"I was happy with our defence in the first half of the game. I thought that gave us some energy, got us out running in transition, we moved the ball well offensively, found open shooters in rhythm and scored early which gave us some confidence too."

Brazil wound up shooting 21-for-58 (36.2 per cent) from the field and seven-for-23 (30.4 per cent) from three-point range in this one as Canada flew around the court to get a hand into every shot.

Despite the game being in their hands, the Canadians didn't let up in the second half, allowing Brazil only 14 points in the third quarter and 19 in the fourth. They went into the final frame up 41 points.

It was a great start for Canada and coach Clarke, who is hoping to earn a second gold medal at GLOBL JAM after winning in 2022 — the sort of start they hoped to get on at this tournament, as a talented generation of Canadian players makes their presence known.