Canada has selected 12 players to represent in Turkey this week.<\/a> Due to timing, Canada\u2019s WNBA stars are able to participate, but someone like Syla Swords (who competed at the Olympics) cannot make the trip due to the NCAA postseason. A few NCAA stars like Swords (Michigan), Avery Howell (Washington), Delaney Gibb (BYU) and more have been with the Senior National Team for camps and tournaments over the past few years. While they are not on this roster, expect them to at least be in the mix when it comes to the World Cup roster, should Canada qualify.<\/p>\nHere is the roster in Turkey this week:<\/p>\n
Kayla AlexanderNiyah BeckerBridget CarletonShay ColleyFaith DutAaliyah EdwardsYvonne EjimSami HillShaina PellingtonKia NurseMerissah RussellTara Wallack<\/p>\n
Kia Nurse, Bridget Carleton, and Aaliyah Edwards all played in the WNBA in 2025. Nurse most recently played in Athlete\u2019s Unlimited, Edwards had a great Unrivaled season, and Carleton has been playing in Hungary. Ejim was drafted to the Indiana Fever in the 2025 draft, participating in training camp before being waived, and played at Gonzaga before that, now playing pro in Spain. Sami Hill, Shay Colley and Kayla Alexander have been mainstays and leaders of the program over the past few years. Most of Canada\u2019s roster plays professional basketball overseas.<\/p>\n
In terms of depth, it\u2019s a solid and well-balanced effort. Colley, Hill, and Pellington will likely take on the point guard role, and don\u2019t be shocked if Fortner rotates who starts over the week. Alexander and Edwards, of course, lead the front court, and Ejim and Wallack are strong forwards. Carleton and Nurse are the team\u2019s primary wings, but they are also incredibly important on the defensive end.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s tournament schedule is as follows, with all games on TSN:<\/p>\n
Wednesday March 11 vs Turkey at 12:30 pm ESTThursday March 12 vs Hungary at 9:30 am ESTSaturday March 14 vs Argentina at 9:30 am ESTSunday March 15 vs Japan at 9:30 am ESTTuesday March 17 vs Australia at 9:30 am EST<\/p>\n
In terms of matchups, Australia, Japan, and Hungary pose the biggest threats to Canada, while Turkey and Argentina should be easier games. That being said, Argentina almost beat Canada for the bronze medal in the AmeriCup, but the Argentinians played exceptionally well in that one-point game. Turkey has Kennedy Burke, their sole allowed naturalized player, so that\u2019s someone to keep an eye on as well.<\/p>\n
Hungary has Dorka Juhasz \u2014 former UConn Husky and currently under contract with the Minnesota Lynx \u2014 in the frontcourt, but Canada can breathe easier knowing Bernadette Hatar will not be competing this time around. Hungary has a pair of 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-5 centers in Virag Takacs-Kiss and Kinga Josepovits to keep in mind as well. Keeping Alexander and Edwards out of foul trouble against Hungary will be important.<\/p>\n
Japan poses an almost opposite effect \u2014 they shoot the lights out from three. Relying on speed, ball movement, and distance shooting, Canada\u2019s perimeter defence will need to be locked in to slow down the Japanese team.<\/p>\n
Australia, of course, is a superpower. Coached by Toronto Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello, Australia\u2019s team has the most amount of WNBA talent outside of Team USA. Ezi Magbegor is the crafty and athletic forward from Seattle, and Alanna Smith just won an Unrivaled Championship, and has carved herself a solid spot on the Minnesota Lynx team in recent seasons. Sami Whitcomb is a veteran shooter, and Jade Melbourne is a rising young guard in the WNBA. Canada\u2019s match-up with Australia comes with the caveat that Australia\u2019s performance doesn\u2019t really matter, since they\u2019ve already qualified. Plus, in the last game of the tournament, maybe Brondello goes a little deeper into her bench. Canada will have their hands full, regardless.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s Strengths and Weaknesses<\/p>\n
For Canada to secure one of the three available bids to the World Cup, there are a few keys to their performance.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s biggest strength with this roster is 100% their front court, and their success will come when they play through Kayla Alexander. Alexander is a bucket under the hoop, and getting the ball to her again and again is so important. Against teams where they have the size advantage, she will be a cheat code. Against teams like Australia and Hungary, her ability to draw fouls could help Canada\u2019s chances a lot.<\/p>\n
This is also going to be Aaliyah Edwards\u2019 first FIBA tournament in a while, and she\u2019s developed as a professional in so many ways since 2024. Her ability to rebound and score under the net will be huge, and she\u2019s always had masterful footwork. Using her natural physicality will be key.<\/p>\n
One thing this iteration of Canada\u2019s team can struggle with is shooting. They will lean a lot on Bridget Carleton for that, but also Hill, Nurse, and Colley. Back in the summer of 2025, before the AmeriCup, Coach Fortner made each of her players shoot 100 three-point shots at the end of every practice, placing importance on remedying that skill. At the time, she also placed a ton of importance on playing through the team\u2019s defence, something they will need to lock into this week.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Canada has a pretty good shot at making it through this tournament and into the World Cup. The changes they have made over the past year in coaching, culture, and strategy have all been to make moments like this easier. This tournament will be a good gauge of where Canada\u2019s women\u2019s program is at a time when they want to be ramping up for the World Cup and, eventually, the 2028 Olympics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While we wait for any news regarding the WNBA and WNBPA coming to terms on a new CBA,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[232792,99,434],"class_list":["post-514049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-canada-basketball","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}