TORONTO –
The shy Day-Wilson is missing a few days from her Duke Blue Devils training camp this week.
But the 19-year-old from Toronto insisted on playing for Canada, in front of his home crowd for the first time in years.
Day-Wilson had 18 points and seven assists to lead the Canada women’s under-23 basketball team to an 85-60 win over the United States on Saturday and into the gold medal game of the first Globl Jam tournament on Sunday.
“Man, it feels good (playing at home),” she said. “It just feels really good to be back home and playing in front of my fans and supporters… I hadn’t done that in about four years. I love every moment of it.”
Merissah Russell and Sarah Te-Biasu each had 13 points, while Aaliyah Edwards finished with 10 points and nine rebounds and Yvonne Ejim put up 13 boards for the Canadians, who were up to 30 points ahead.
Canada meets France in Sunday’s final after France overtook Belgium 74-73 in the day’s first semi-final.
Day-Wilson, who lost a year of high school basketball due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has had a spectacular rookie season with Duke, leading the Blue Devils in points, assists, field goals made, free throws made and attempts, and minutes , which she played last season, which earned her the ACC Freshman of the Year.
She said while she misses Duke’s camp, she gets the same kind of development playing with Canada’s U-23 team.
“I’m a gym rat. I stay in the gym every day. I mean, I miss a lot, but I don’t really miss a lot because I’m still in the gym and getting my own work into it,” she said.
Day-Wilson’s sizzling rookie season also caught the attention of Drake, who dubbed the 5-foot-1 point guard “Yellow Tape Shy.” The Toronto recording artist invited Day-Wilson to play one on one in the hall of his home. The video went viral.
“He’s a good guy,” said Day-Wilson.
Day-Wilson impressed in her international debut with Canada’s Under-19 side at last summer’s World Cup in Hungary, averaging 18.1 points per game. She dreams of playing for Canada’s senior team and with senior coach Victor Lapena on the sidelines on Saturday her performance certainly didn’t hurt her chances.
“Everyone sees it and I kind of see it too, I’m kind of ready for the next level,” she said. “So I’m just going to keep going step by step. And when that time comes, I will be ready.”
The US led 22-19 after a quarter, but the Canadians moved up eight with a 14-6 run midway through the second quarter. Canada went into halftime 46-37 in front of a crowd at the Mattamy Athletic Center that included swimming star Penny Oleksiak, Canada’s most decorated Olympian.
The Canadians, who had defeated US 78-69 in the preliminary round earlier in the week, retreated further in the third and when Edwards drove to the layup at the end of the quarter to make a layup, it gave the Canadians the lead on Day 19 -Wilson hit a three with 51 seconds left to send Canada 69-46 into the fourth quarter.
Created to bridge the gap between the under-19 and senior programs, the Globl Jam tournament saw four countries compete on each of the men’s and women’s sides.
Canada Basketball envisages the event developing into a basketball version of the hugely popular Junior Hockey World Championship.
“Wouldn’t that be great?” said Mike Bartlett, CEO of Canada Basketball. “Long term it would be great if it started to reflect what the world’s juniors have become but it took 20, 25 years for the thing to be what it is today.
“I hope it doesn’t take that long for us, but the feedback we get from everyone we speak to is again, ‘You’ve got something here.'”
The Canadian 3×3 Championships, which drew crowds at nearby Yonge Dundas on Saturday, are taking place as part of the Globl Jam celebrations.
The Canadian men, who went 2-1 in the first round – their only loss came to Italy – were set to meet the Americans in their semifinals later on Saturday. The winner meets Brazil in Sunday’s gold medal final, who beat Italy 79-56 earlier in the day.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 9, 2022.