The Athenaeum Forum

ISTANBUL - Canada is out of medal contention at the FIBA womens world basketball championship after dropping a 63-52 decision to Australia in the quarter-finals Friday.Miranda Ayim of London, Ont., led Canada with 11 points and seven rebounds while Edmontons Katherine Plouffe added 10 points and Kia Nurse of Hamilton scored eight. Erin Phillips scored 16 points to lead the Australian attack.The Canadians were coming off an impressive 91-71 qualification win over the Czech Republic, but couldnt match that output against a deep Australian side.We werent the same team at the offensive end tonight, Canadian head coach Lisa Thomaidis said on a conference call. Certainly Australia had something to do with that. It wasnt just all of us not showing up by any means. They were tough defensively.Australia (4-0) led 26-20 before scoring 10 of the final 14 points of the half, capped by another three by Leilani Mitchell just before the buzzer to take a 36-24 advantage into the break.Canada (2-3) got within 10 in the third quarter on consecutive three-pointers, but could get no closer as Phillips took over.We did a good job on them defensively for the most part, Thomaidis said. They werent shooting the ball terribly well and they gave us chances. The door was still open for us to come out and take it from them. But again, just a hard time putting the ball in the hoop and scoring any easy buckets.We didnt have any easy ones tonight. Spain advanced to the semifinals with a 71-55 win over China. In the late quarter-finals, host Turkey faces Serbia and the United States meets France.While they wont be contending for a medal, the Canadians did meet their goal of finishing in the top eight. Canada will play in classification games on Saturday and Sunday and can still finish as high as fifth overall. Our world ranking is No. 9 right now, Thomaidis said. So anything we can do to help raise our world ranking and garner more respect and notoriety on the world scene, thats always going to be great for Canada and this team moving forward. Canada finished 12th at the last world championship in 2010.— With files from The Associated Press. Victor Rask Jersey . And yet as they left TD Garden amid the slush and snow of a winter storm on Thursday evening, there was a sense among the Leafs that they had finally stood toe to toe with their long-time bully, only to fall just short. Eddie Lack Jersey . According to the Red Wings Twitter feed, Zetterberg plans to practice with the team on Thursday and is aiming for a second round comeback. http://www.hockeyhurricanes.com/.C. United have acquired midfielder Alex Caskey from the Seattle Sounders for a third-round pick in the 2016 MLS draft. Cam Ward Jersey . There will be no Down Under four-peat for Djokovic, as the eighth-seeded Swiss slugger Wawrinka outlasted the second seed 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 at Melbourne Parks Rod Laver Arena in yet another five-set thriller in their burgeoning rivalry. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . Moments after his Brooklyn Nets teammates ran out onto the court to congratulate him following their 100-98 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, Johnson could only shake his head at scoring only 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting.DOVER, Del. - Kyle Buschs bid for a tripleheader sweep at Dover ended with a wreck in Sundays Sprint Cup race. Buschs No. 18 Toyota slammed into the wall 124 laps into the 400-lap race and was forced into the garage. Busch won the Truck Series race on Friday and the Nationwide Series race on Saturday. Busch has thee only three-race sweep since NASCAR expanded to three national series in 1995, accomplishing the feat in 2010 at Bristol.dddddddddddd Busch led the first 81 laps of Sundays race before he was passed by Jimmie Johnson. He is just 1 for 9 in Cup races after winning the first two in the same weekend. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '