OTTAWA (CIS) – Canadian Interuniversity Sport, in conjunction with Canada Basketball, announced Wednesday the student-athletes and staff members who will represent the country in women's basketball at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia.
The Lancers are pleased to have three athletes named to the Team Canada roster. Guards
Miah-Marie Langlois and
Korissa Williams, as well as post player
Tessa Kreiger will represent Canada in Russia, while head coach Chantal Vallee will also serve as an assistant coach for the team.
Summer Universiade website: www.kazan2013.com/en
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2013
Canada is coming off a sixth-place finish at the 2011 tournament in Shenzhen, China, which marked the development national team's best result in a decade at the biennial competition. A pair of bronze medals in 1979 (Mexico City) and 1991 (Sheffield, England) remain Canada's best-ever finish at the FISU Games.
The 11-athlete roster heading to Kazan is comprised of seven standouts from CIS schools and four from NCAA institutions.
The lineup includes guards Rachelle Coward of Dartmouth, N.S.,
Miah-Marie Langlois of Windsor, Ont., Dianna Ros of Montreal,
Korissa Williams of Windsor and Kris Young of North Vancouver; forwards Lindsay Ledingham of Regina and Kara Spotton of Belleville, Ont.; posts Taijah Campbell of Ajax, Ont., and
Tessa Kreiger of London, Ont.; post/forward Dalyce Emmerson of Prince Albert, Sask., as well as Erin Chambers of Mission, B.C., who plays guard and forward.
Langlois and Ledingham are the only returning members from the 2011 Universiade squad. Williams and Young also have international experience as they helped Canada to fifth place at the 2011 FIBA under-19 world championship.
Langlois, Williams and Kreiger are teammates with the reigning three-time CIS champion University of Windsor Lancers. Langlois has been named CIS defensive player of the year each of the past two seasons and was MVP of the 2011 and 2012 CIS championships. Williams claimed MVP honours at the 2013 CIS Final Eight.
A trio of CIS coaches will be at the helm in Russia, including head coach Fabian McKenzie from Cape Breton University and assistants Michèle Bélanger from Toronto and Chantal Vallée from Windsor.
Rounding out the Team Canada staff are team manager and performance analyst Jeff Speedy from UNB, head of delegation Denise Dignard from Canada Basketball, as well as therapist Patrice Pepin.
"We have a diverse group of young athletes from all corners of the country who have become a cohesive unit and are working very hard to represent Canada in a first-class manner," said McKenzie, who was an assistant coach with the Universiade squad in 2009. "The coaching staff and the student-athletes are very excited about competing and testing ourselves against the best university-aged athletes in the world in Russia. This is another tremendous international growth opportunity for our athletes on their development path within the Women's National Team Program."
The team is training in Mississauga, Ont., until June 30. More training and exhibition games will follow in Kazan from July 2 to 7. The 16-team Universiade tournament is set for July 8-15.
In the preliminary round, Canada will battle in Pool C against Japan (July 8), Ukraine (July 9) and Taiwan (July 10), the silver medallists from 2011.
Japan finished 12
th with a 1-5 record two years ago, while Ukraine did not compete at the event.
The other groups are made up of host Russia, Sweden, Poland and Mongolia in Pool A, the United States, Brazil, the Czech Republic and Belgium in Pool B, and Australia, Finland, China and Hungary in Pool D.
The USA are reigning two-time champions and have won three of the last four FISU tourneys. The Americans also lead the way with eighth titles overall since the inaugural competition in 1961.
Australia claimed the bronze medal in Shenzhen.
TEAM CANADA ROSTER
No. Pos. Name Ht University Hometown
5 G Dianna Ros 5-7 McGill Montreal, Que.
6 G
Miah-Marie Langlois 5-8 Windsor Windsor, Ont.
7 G
Korissa Williams 5-9 Windsor Windsor, Ont.
8 G Kris Young 6-0 UBC North Vancouver, B.C.
9 G Rachelle Coward 6-0 Charleston Southern Dartmouth, N.S.
10 G/F Erin Chambers 6-1 Simon Fraser Mission, B.C.
11 F Kara Spotton 6-2 Colorado State Belleville, Ont.
12 F Lindsay Ledingham 6-0 Regina Regina, Sask.
13 P Taijah Campbell 6-3 Virginia Tech Ajax, Ont.
14 P
Tessa Kreiger 6-4 Windsor London, Ont.
15 P/F Dalyce Emmerson 6-3 Saskatchewan Prince Albert, Sask.
STAFF
Position Name University
Head Coach Fabian McKenzie Cape Breton
Assistant Coach Michèle Bélanger Toronto
Assistant Coach Chantal Vallée Windsor
Team Manager Jeff Speedy UNB
Therapist Patrice Pepin -
Head of Delegation Denise Dignard Canada Basketball
UNIVERSIADE POOLS & SCHEDULE:
Pool A: Russia, Sweden, Poland, Mongolia
Pool B: USA, Brazil, Czech Republic, Belgium
Pool C: Taiwan,
CANADA, Japan, Ukraine
Pool D: Australia, Finland, China, Hungary
July 8: Canada vs. Japan
July 9: Canada vs. Ukraine
July 10: Canada vs. Taiwan
July 12: Quarter-finals
July 13: Semifinals
July 15: Final
CANADA'S ALL-TIME UNIVERSIADE RESULTS IN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL:
2011 Shenzhen, China: 6
th / 15 teams (champions: USA)
2009 Belgrade, Serbia: 15
th / 16 (champions: USA)
2007 Bangkok, Thailand: 7
th / 16 (champions: Australia)
2005 Izmir, Turkey: 11
th / 20 (champions: USA)
2003 Daegu, South Korea: 13
th / 17 (champions: China)
2001 Beijing, China: 6
th / 19 (champions: USA)
1999 Palma, Spain: 7
th / 16 (champions: Spain)
1997 Sicily, Italy: 9
th / 16 (champions: USA)
1995 Fukuoka, Japan: 7
th / 16 (champions: Italy)
1993 Buffalo, USA: 14
th / 15 (champions: China)
1991 Sheffield, England: 3
rd / 16 (champions: USA)
1989 Duisburg, Germany:
No tournament -
1987 Zagreb, Yugoslavia: 6
th / 18 (champions: Yugoslavia)
1985 Kobe, Japan: 4
th / 10 (champions: USSR)
1983 Edmonton, Canada: 6
th / 11 (champions: USA)
1981 Bucharest, Romania: 6
th / 17 (champions: USSR)
1979 Mexico City, Mexico: 3
rd / 13 (champions: USA)
1977 Sofia, Bulgaria: 6
th / 17 (champions: USSR)
1975 Rome, Italy:
No tournament -
1973 Moscow, USSR: 10
th / 16 (champions: USSR)
1970 Turin, Italy:
Canada DNP (champions: USSR)
1967 Tokyo, Japan:
Canada DNP (champions: South Korea)
1965 Budapest, Hungary:
Canada DNP (champions: USSR)
1963 Porto Alegre, Brazil:
No tournament -
1961 Sofia, Bulgaria:
Canada DNP (champions: Bulgaria)
1959 Turin, Italy:
No tournament -
DNP:
Did not participate
About the Summer Universiade
The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.
About Canada Basketball
Canada Basketball is a private, not-for-profit corporation committed to excellence in leading the growth of the game domestically and in pursuing medal performances on the international stage.
For more information, please visit www.basketball.ca.
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About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 54 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit
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