Rio 2016 was billed as a coming out party for one of the brightest basketball talents in the world.
Instead, the Olympics ended in nightmarish fashion for Canadian guard Kia Nurse. She shot 3-of-16 from the field as Canada lost 68-63 to France in the quarterfinals Tuesday night.
Afterwards, a tearful Nurse took the blame for her country's early exit.
"I feel like I let (the team) down," Nurse told Sportsnet's Arash Madani, "I take this loss."
Three key misplays from Nurse in the final two minutes effectively squandered the game. Nurse airballed a fadeaway jumpshot, then clanked a wide-open 11-footer, before allowing a back cut leading to an uncontested layup for France that put them up five.
Tuesday wasn't the only rough outing for Canada's no. 1 option. Nurse struggled to score throughout the tournament.
Nurse shot 16-of-63 from the field across six games, although her scoring average was buoyed by toeing the line for 37 free-throws.
She scored 12 points against France and finished the tournament averaging 11.6 points per game, but that wasn't enough to advance to the next round.
Teammate Kim Gaucher, a staple of the Canadian team since 2001, admitted that the loss to France would sting for decades to come.
"(I'm) pissed off. I'm not sure when I'll get over (this loss). Maybe in 30 years."
Gaucher might be hard-pressed to make another Olympic run since she would be 36 by the time Tokyo 2020 rolls around. Nurse, however, will have plenty of chances for redemption in the years to come.
The 20-year-old from Hamilton, Ontario already has two NCAA titles with UConn, she led Canada to gold at the Pan Am Games last summer, and she finished as the team's leading scorer at the 2015 FIBA World Championships.
But for the time being, Nurse's breakout will have to wait.
