RIO DE JANEIRO – Ghislaine Landry had 18 points as Canada defeated Britain 33-10 to capture the bronze medal in the inaugural Olympic women’s rugby sevens event.

Landry had two tries and four conversions for the Canadians, who avenged a 22-0 loss to Britain in their final preliminary round game.

Karen Paquin, Bianca Farella and Kelly Russell had the other tries for Canada, which took a commanding 26-5 half-time advantage. The Canadians also earned a successful finish to the tournament after dropping a 17-5 semifinal decision to Australia early Monday.

Top-seeded Australia, the tournament favourite, defeated No. 2 New Zealand 24-17 in the gold medal match. New Zealand beat Britain 25-7 in its semifinal.

Britain cut Canada’s lead to 26-10 with Jasmine Joyce’s second-half try but Landry cemented the victory with a try and conversion to put Canada back ahead 33-10.

The Canadians came into the semifinal on the heels of a 15-5 quarter-final victory over France and a 2-1-0 pool record that included easy wins over Japan and Brazil and an error-filled loss to Britain.

Canada came into the tournament as a medal contender after winning last summer’s Pan American Games and finishing third on the world circuit this season. The Canadians were second in the World Series in 2014-15.

Women’s rugby is making its Olympic debut, while men’s rugby returns for the first time since 1924 when the U.S. won the 15-a-side tournament.