Women defeated Brazil 61-56 while the men dropped a 65-52 decision to Germany

(Dubai, UAE) – The Senior Women’s National Team opened the IWBF World Championships with a 61-56 victory over Brazil on Saturday morning.

Canada erased a 34-30 halftime deficit with an 11-2 run to open the second half and never looked back. Kady Dandeneau paced Canada with a game-high 31 points and 17 rebounds, and five assists.

Elodie Tessier added 10 points in the win, while Cindy Ouellet chipped in nine points, nine assists and five rebounds.

“I think we started a little tight, but it was the first game of the World Championships, a big tournament,” said head coach Marni Abbott-Peter. “As the game went on, we stuck to our gameplan, and Brazil played a great game; they shot well, but we were able to come out on top. We’re happy with the win.”

The Canadian women’s team returns to action on Monday when they face Spain at 11 a.m. ET. Full statistics from Saturday’s win over Brazil can be found here.

On the men’s side, Team Canada fell 65-52 to Germany on Saturday afternoon.

Canada trailed 36-21 at halftime and outscored Germany 31-29 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.

Patrick Anderson paced Canada with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Colin Higgins added 12 points and four assists.

“Obviously, it didn’t go how we wanted,” said Higgins. “We came out and matched Germany at the start, but then they were able to keep their foot on the gas for a while. We weren’t able to respond. On a positive note, we won the second half, and we showed good fight. We have another game on Sunday, so we can’t hang our heads too long.”

The Senior Men’s National Team is back in action on Sunday when they take on Thailand. Tip-off is at 10:45 a.m./ET.

Full stats from Saturday’s game against Germany can be found here.