The USA women’s wheelchair basketball team defeated Great Britain in a tough match in the fourth quarter to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
The Americans, who took home the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, triumphed 59-52 on Wednesday night at Bercy Arena. To compete for a spot in the gold medal playoffs on Sunday, they will play China on Friday.
Rose Hollermann (15 points), Ixhelt Gonzalez (16 points), Courtney Ryan (10 points), and captain Becca Murray (12 points) were among the top scorers for the USA.
For the majority of the game, Great Britain had the US squad under strict control, but the Americans allowed their lead to erode. Team GB tied the score at 46–46 early in the final quarter before edging ahead. But panic stations were not struck by the USA. Gonzalez and Murray both discovered the net fast and began reassembling the buffer.
Jade Atkin, one of the leading scorers for Great Britain with 15 points, remarked, “I just think the momentum changed and at the end, they had the momentum.”
“The battle was difficult. We all put up a good fight. I’m just exhausted right now.
Gonzalez, who is 20 years old and the youngest player on the US team, was a monster, grabbing 11 rebounds as well.
We were so determined to win, and I believe that’s why we succeeded. In the previous quarter, we were really aggressive with our chairs,” Gonzalez remarked.
Attention turns to China
Because of the Chinese side’s structured style of play, Hollermann cautioned that the US squad needed to exercise discipline. Since 2018, China has been acting in the same manner. They’ve done it really well,” she remarked.
“We just need to keep our eyes on ourselves and keep in mind that, if we play basketball, which we know we can, we should be in the gold medal game on Sunday.”
China had earlier defeated Japan 62–50. China had to settle for silver at the Tokyo Games, but according to coach Chen Qi, his squad was “prepared to go all the way.”
According to player Lin Suiling, speed and agility are the team’s strong points.
But one of our weaknesses is that we’re a smaller crew,” she remarked.
Dutch looking for more gold. In the meantime, the reigning champions Netherlands defeated Spain with ease, 61-43.
Mariska Beijer, a renowned Dutch sharpshooter, finished with 34 points. She was uncontainable, even though the Spanish team had set her as a goal.
We made a lot of effort to stop her, but Virginia Perez—a player—was simply too skilled.
The Dutch team, according to coach Franck Belen, had given his youthful team a lesson.
“They are minor errors. If you miss a layup against these teams (the tops), they will penalize you right away. That’s why they are champions,” he remarked, emphasizing that in order for his squad to advance, they need more chances to play frequently.
It was a “very physical game,” according to Beijer, who expressed disappointment in her team’s slow start.
“Our goal was to get off to a slightly better start,” she stated.
“We were shooting much lower than we usually do.”
Broken curse
After the Maple Leafs defeated Germany 71-53, with 33 points from Kady Dandeneau’s explosive offensive, the Dutch will play Canada in the semifinals.
“Winning was the primary objective in order to escape the never-ending fifth position. “Returning Canada to that elite level feels good,” Dandeneau remarked.
With 18 points to her credit, teammate Arinn Young expressed how great it was to be able to continue playing at her “favourite arena and atmosphere” of her career.
“Canada has lost in so many quarter finals in the last 10 years, so it feels like a curse has been broken.”