Two tickets to Paris: Natalie Achonwa, Cassandre Prosper make Team Canada's Olympic roster

SOUTH BEND — Thanks to Team Canada, Notre Dame women’s basketball will have two more representatives at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.

Natalie Achonwa and Cassandre Prosper were announced Tuesday as part of the 12-player Olympic roster for Canada.

Achonwa, 31, becomes Canada’s first four-time Olympic selection in women’s basketball. The native of Guelph, Ontario was 16 years old when she made her Canadian Senior National team debut in 2009.

“It’s always an incredible honor to represent my country at an Olympic Games," Achonwa, Team Canada's co-captain, said in a statement . "Regardless of the tournament or competition, the pride I feel putting on a Canada jersey is always the same. And knowing this is my last time in that jersey, I want to cherish every second of this journey.”

A 6-foot-3 forward, Achonwa was a third-team All-American in 2014 and still ranks in the top 10 for Notre Dame in career rebounds (fifth) and field-goal percentage (eighth). She played nine seasons in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx; in 2020 she received the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award.

Prosper, a rising junior from Montreal, missed all but five games last season with a lower leg injury. The 6-2 guard averaged 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals in limited action for the Irish in 2023-24 after enrolling early in December 2022.

Paris-bound: Two former Notre Dame women's basketball stars make 2024 Olympic team for Paris

Notre Dame women’s basketball previously placed two former stars on Team USA for the Paris Olympics: Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young.

Team Canada will be making its eighth Olympic appearance after finishing third in the FIBA women’s Olympic qualification tournament in Hungary earlier this year.

Group stage play begins July and runs through Aug. 4. The gold medal game is set for Aug. 11.

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and the South Bend Tribune.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Two tickets to Paris: Natalie Achonwa, Cassandre Prosper make Team Canada's Olympic roster