TORONTO - Canada's under-23 women's team improved to 2-0 in the inaugural Globl Jam basketball tournament on Wednesday with a 78-69 victory against the winless United States.

Canada enjoyed a comfortable 43-28 lead at the half and only slowed down after coach Carly Clarke figured the victory was inevitable.

Merissah Russell led Canada with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Shaina Pellington had 13 points and Aaliyah Edwards had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Sarah Te-Biasu and Latasha Lattimore each had 10 points coming off the bench.

Taya Robinson had 27 points and nine rebounds for the U.S., while Mary-Anna Asare chipped in with 18.

Canada opened the tournament Tuesday with a 65-53 win over Belgium. Canada and France, both 2-0 in the round robin segment of the six-country, five-day tournament, will play each other Thursday at Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Canada's men's team, which opened the tournament by beating Brazil 89-75, improve to 2-0 with an exciting come-from-behind 69-67 win against the U.S.

Marcus Carr led Canada with 14 points while teammate Emanuel Miller had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Stefan Smith chipped in with 11 points and Quincy Guerrie had nine points and eight rebounds.

Keyonte George led the U.S. with 19 points and Jalen Bridges scored 13. The U.S. led 35-31 at halftime and 47-41 entering the final quarter. The U.S., which slipped to 0-2 in the round robin, lost its opener to Italy 88-77.

The Canadian men will play 1-1 Italy on Thursday.

The men's and women's semifinals are scheduled for Saturday and the gold-medal games are Sunday.

THROW-INS: France kept things rolling on Wednesday in women's competition with a 59-32 win over Belgium. Tima Pouye scored 11 points for France, a day after her squad bounced the U.S. 62-44. Ine Joris had eight points for Belgium. On the men's side, Brazil won a 72-68 thriller against Italy thanks to a 23-17 scoring advantage in the final quarter. Yago Dos Santos scored a game-high 28 points for Brazil. Federico Zampini scored 14 for Italy. Both teams are 1-1 in the round robin portion of the six-country tournament.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6

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