Canada outlast George’s Opals in Olympics warm-up fixture

The Australian Opals, headlined by Sydney Flames’ Cayla George, will go into the Olympics with high expectations, after another encouraging display against Canada on Wednesday morning, Australian time.

The highly-touted Canadian team sits alongside the Opals and the US as the experts’ top picks for medals in Paris, with the teams going shot-for-shot in a potential preview of what’s to come in a week’s time.

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Canada took early bragging rights leading into the group phase of the Olympics, with a three-point win over the Opals.

The teams will match up again on August 1, in Group B in Lille.

Jade Melbourne was the standout for the Australians in the 77-74 loss, with 23 points, to lead all scorers, as well as five rebounds and four assists.

Alanna Smith followed up her strong performance against Spain with another 12 points, while five-time Olympian Lauren Jackson sat out the Opals’ final pre-Olympic test.

In the defeat, George added three points, three rebounds and four assists.

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Kayla Alexander had 21 points for the winners.

The Opals tip off their Olympic campaign on Monday, July 29 at 7pm AEST, facing the 12th world-ranked Nigeria, before games against Canada and France, with all games to be played in Lille.