Back with national team, Canada's Aaliyah Edwards could play key role at AmeriCup
Myles Dichter | CBC Sports | Posted: June 27, 2023 12:19 PM | Last Updated: June 27, 2023
Top team outside U.S. from tournament in Mexico advances to Olympic qualifier
Aaliyah Edwards hasn't scored a point for Canada in tournament play since 2021.
But that drought is likely to end on Sunday when Canada opens the women's FIBA AmeriCup in Mexico with a game against the hosts.
The Kingston, Ont., native's last international bucket came during the same tournament two years ago.
"It's crazy to look back on that. But I got a bit older, grown and my game improved a lot. So I'm ready to go back there and win the gold," Edwards told CBC Sports.
Edwards, who'll turn 21 when medal games are played July 9, has now spent three years with the esteemed University of Connecticut women's basketball program, where she's played in the Final Four twice and slowly earned a bigger role.
She played two games at the 2021 Olympics for Canada, going scoreless, and wasn't part of the national team that placed fourth at last year's World Cup.
But Edwards said her game has improved dramatically.
"I could shoot now from the perimeter. I'm more confident ball-handling and stuff like that, but I think that I'm just being more of a dominant player and I carry myself that way," she said.
Canada may need that dominance in Mexico, where it will be without WNBA players Kia Nurse, Bridget Carleton and Laeticia Amihere in addition to Natalie Achonwa, who recently gave birth to son Maverick.
The top team outside of the U.S. at the tournament advances directly to February's Olympic qualifying tournament, while others are relegated to a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in the fall. The Americans already qualified for the Olympics by winning the World Cup.
Of course, Canada isn't the only squad missing top talent — the American roster is highlighted by a touted collegian in LSU star and national champion Angel Reese.
Team effort
Still, head coach Victor Lapeña said it will be a team effort to replace the WNBA players, relying on veterans like Nirra Fields, Shay Colley and Kayla Alexander in addition to Edwards.
"First time [Edwards] is going to play for me, so I have to check how is she during the games. A lot of learnings during this tournament for me. First experience in AmeriCup, first experience with some players, first experience against teams like Colombia, Dominican Republic," he told CBC Sports.
Canada, ranked sixth worldwide, is grouped with Puerto Rico (No. 10), Colombia (No. 32) the Dominican Republic (No. 35) and Mexico (No. 45). The top four teams advance to the quarterfinals.
Lapeña said he'll be approaching things one game at a time.
"Everybody is talking about Olympics. Everybody is talking about qualification. I don't like to talk about it. I can talk about it, but my focus is today, then tomorrow," he said.
The games will come quickly, too — Canada plays all four of its group-stage contests in a span of four days.
The team clearly wore down over a similar stretch during the World Cup.
"For me it's difficult. Can you imagine for players? Last year was super hard. Now you know that Natalie played pregnant and Kia coming from injury and we finished in fourth position. That's amazing, amazing what we did there," Lapeña said.
"But always my mentality is never enough. What's the next challenge? The next challenge is AmeriCup and I dream to be champion."
'Live in the present'
Edwards, the versatile six-foot-three forward ever-recognizable for her purple-and-yellow braids worn in homage to Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, could be a major part of that.
She said her aim entering her senior season at UConn is to hang the program's 12th national championship banner. After that, it's likely off to the WNBA, where she's projected as a first-round pick amid a stacked draft including NCAA stars like Reese, Caitlin Clark, Hailey Van Lith and teammate Paige Bueckers.
WATCH | UConn's Aaliyah Edwards receives no shortage of Canadian support:
Edwards said she's talked briefly about the process with Amihere, a first-round pick of the Atlanta Dream in April.
"We played in [the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association] together and now going into her being drafted is just amazing and I'm just super proud of her," Edwards said.
Yet Edwards added that Amihere didn't offer much in the way of draft advice.
"It's more like when you're in it, you know. When you know, you know. … You can't really think about getting too far ahead of your goals. You just want to live in the present."
The first step may be a bucket in Mexico.