Clarke and Wallack Take the Court for Canada at the FIBA U-19 World Cup
PULLMAN, Wash. – A pair of Cougars will represent the Washington State women's basketball team at the 2021 FIBA U-19 Women's Basketball World Cup, as sophomore Jessica Clarke and freshman Tara Wallack will represent their home country of Canada. The tournament begins this Saturday, Aug. 7, and will run through Aug. 15 in Debrecen, Hungary.
Canada will open the 2021 FIBA U-19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Group D, along with Czech Republic, Japan and Mali. Clarke and Wallack open group play Saturday, Aug. 7, against Japan at 5:00 a.m. PT. Game two of group play for the Canadians will take place this Sunday, Aug. 8, against Czech Republic at 5:30 a.m. PT. Canada concludes group play Aug. 10 with a 5:30 a.m. PT matchup against Mali. The top two teams from each group will advance to a 16-team single-elimination tournament that begins Aug. 11. Each game will stream live for free on FIBA's YouTube page.
Clarke, who is from North Vancouver, Canada, appeared in 15 games as a true freshman for Washington State during the 2020-21 season. She scored a career-high 15 points and pulled down five rebounds against No. 8/8 Oregon in just the second collegiate game of her career on December 21 in Pullman. The 6-3 center was ranked the fifth-best Canadian high school prospect in her class and was selected to play in the prestigious BioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Game during the summer of 2019.
Wallack, a 6-2 guard from South Surrey, Canada, will be the second time representing her home country at a FIBA tournament, as she previously played for Canada at the 2019 U16 FIBA Americas Championship in Chile. Wallack averaged 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in five games to help Team Canada win silver. At the prep level, Wallack guided Semiahmoo Secondary School to back-to-back British Columbia Provincial Championships in 2019 and 2020. During her junior season, she was named the MVP of the Senior Girls Provincial Championship game after posting a double-double with an impressive 29 points and 23 rebounds. During the Provincials, Wallack averaged 26 points and 15 rebounds per game. Additionally, she was named the MVP of the 2020 Centennial Top Ten Tournament.
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