Eight teams started the Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament on Monday in Guadalajara, Mexico looking to win the event and earn an automatic place in the final qualifying tournaments for the Olympics regardless of their performances in their confederation championships next year. All of the teams involved missed out on the World Cup with four teams from the Americas and two teams each from Africa and Asia/Oceania participating. The teams are divided into two groups with geographic balance and the top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals.
Group A
This group had the first two games of the day as Brazil was certainly looking to give themselves as many opportunities as possible to return to the global stage. Adut Bulgak was fantastic for South Sudan, which took the lead early. Aaliyah Guyton helped lead the comeback, forcing overtime, but South Sudan took the lead again and held on this time for the 63-61 win. Argentina had the momentum of having most of their roster winning the South American championship before this, but they found themselves trailing a New Zealand team that only had ten available players. The game was close until the fourth quarter, when New Zealand broke through in what had been a defensive struggle and dominated the period for the 57-35 win.
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-womens-olympic-pre-qualifying-tournament-2026-guadalajara-mexico/games/135061-BRA-SSD#boxscore
Brazil [61]: Guyton 20 Nascimento 16 Oliveira 6 Rodrigues 5/10r Moura 5 Carrera 4 Albiero 3 Queiroz 2/7r Vasconcelos 0/6r Goncalo 0 Sangalli 0 Marcal 0
South Sudan [63]: Bulgak 25/22r Joiner 13 Gakdeng 11/15r Diew 9/6r Gabriel 2 Leime 1 Macuei 1 Makuei 1 Mayen 0 Gony 0 Wol DNP Tac DNP
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-womens-olympic-pre-qualifying-tournament-2026-guadalajara-mexico/games/135062-ARG-NZL#boxscore
Argentina [35]: Chagas 10 D’Urso 8 Cabrera 6 Piri 4 Burani 3 Mungo 3 Gretter 1/7a Lagowski 0/6r Lombardero 0 Oltmann 0 Fernandez 0 Morrell 0
New Zealand [57]: Brow 14 Shearer 12 L. Whittaker 11/9r Tofaeono 9/7r C. Whittaker 7/7r Dallow 2 Dalton 2/6a Flavell 0 Hokianga 0 Rasmussen 0
Group B
Canada entered the tournament as the favorites even without their WNBA players and they played the first game in this group. It went about as expected with a solid early lead in their 72-57 win over Cierra Dillard and Senegal. The hosts played in the last game, welcoming the Philippines and looking to make a bigger move on the international stage. The visitors had the better first half and maintained their lead early in the second half even as Mexico pushed back. The game flipped late in the fourth quarter with Mexico grabbing the lead late to prevail 61-58.
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-womens-olympic-pre-qualifying-tournament-2026-guadalajara-mexico/games/135067-CAN-SEN#boxscore
Canada [72]: Alexander 16/6r Swords 13 Gibb 13 Bascoe 9 Dut 4/6r Makeer 4 Pellington 3/6a Howell 3 Hill 3 Ejim 2/7r Wallack 2/7r Parchment 0
Senegal [57]: Dillard 20/8a Kane 13 Diagne 6 Gueye 5 Faye 4 Sene 4 Filor 3 Diouf 2 Lo Sylla 0 Gassama 0 Fall 0 Timera 0
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-womens-olympic-pre-qualifying-tournament-2026-guadalajara-mexico/games/135068-MEX-PHI#boxscore
Mexico [61]: Jeffries 17/9r Pitts 12/6r Ramirez 12 Gil 7/8r Valenzuela 7/7r Lagunas 6/8r Rodriguez 0 Carrasco 0 Maciel 0 Chavez 0 Esquer DNP Moran Arechiga DNP
Philippines [58]: De Jesus 15 Animam 14/6r Dignadice 8 Dela Rosa 6/10r Joson 5 Ozar 5 Surada 2 Bernardino 2 Pastrana 1 Rodriguez 0 Pontejos DNP Del Carmen DNP
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