ISTANBUL (FIBA World Championship for Women) - Canada head coach Lisa Thomaidis is leaving Istanbul in positive mood despite her team enduring mixed fortunes in the Zafer Cup, very much a key stopover en-route to the FIBA World Championship for Women.

The Canadians started off their three games at the Ulker Sports Arena with a superb and morale-boosting 62-55 success over Australia, but then fell to a 51-33 loss against Turkey and a 65-56 defeat to Brazil.

"This tournament was a tremendous learning experience for us," insisted Thomaidis.

"We played three top quality opponents in three days and did some very good things.

"These games are about identifying our gaps and areas that need improving prior to the World Championship and we've done just that."

There had been few areas for improvement identified after their opening outing against the Opals, as Tamara Tatham led the way with 14 points and seven rebounds.

"It was a tremendous team win," reflected Thomaidis.

"We displayed such toughness to defeat a very strong Australian team.

"I can't say enough about the resilience and the poise that our team had.

"We had a great performance from Tamara (Tatham), but a lot of different players contributed.

"Our guard play was also excellent."

Canada struggled against the imperious Turkish defense in the second game and while they also went down against fellow FIBA Americas competitors Brazil, it was perhaps inevitable their opponents would eventually prevail, having been swept 3-0 in the recent Edmonton Grads Classic series.

Miah-Marie Langlois boosted her claim for a place on the final roster after leading the Canadians in scoring with 13 points, as well as adding four rebounds and three assists.

Brazil's Taina Paixao had a standout performance with 24 points, nine assists and three rebounds, while the powerful Clarissa Dos Santos added a fine double-double of 16 points and 11-rebounds.

Thomaidis and her players have little time to slow down since they head straight to the Czech Republic, where they will spend the rest of the week competing in the Karlovy Vary preparation tournament against the hosts, Korea and Serbia.

FIBA