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U.S. Women Start With 26-0 Run to Defeat Argentina at America’s Qualifier, 64-38

By NWBA, 08/26/17, 4:15PM CDT

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CALI, COLOMBIA – The U.S. Women’s National Team improve to 2-1 in pool play at the 2017 IWBF America’s Qualifier, and have one more game in pool play on Sunday. Coming off a lost on Friday, Team USA reeled off a 26-0 run to start Saturday’s game against Argentina, and never looked back as they went onto to win 64-38.

Linsdsey Zurbrugg of Portland, Oregon, and in her first season for the U.S. Women's National Team, led the scoring with 15 points, and was followed by 2016 Paralympic gold medalist Abby Dunkin of New Braunfels, Texas, who finished the day with 14 points. 

Two-time U.S. Paralympian and gold medalist Desi Miller of Monroe, Washington, finished the game with 10 points, 

Team USA maintained throughout the game, providing an opportunity for everyone to play. This year’s U.S. Women’s National Team is comprised of three Rio Paralympic gold medalists (Miller; Dunkin; and Vanessa Erskine, Kearney, Missouri) and nine rookies.

Zoe Voris of Crown Point, Indiana, scored double digits in the big win 11 points. On the day, Team USA shot 59 percent from the floor and forced 12 turnovers.

For Argentina, Silvia Linari led the scoring with 12 points and 5 rebounds, with Maria Pallares scoring 10 points and gripping 4 rebounds. Overall, Argentina won the rebound game, 20-19.

“We played a great team today, and we were able to get through a few different line-up combinations and work on a few specific concepts on the court,” said U.S. Women’s Head Coach Trooper Johnson of San Lorenzo, California. “It was great being able to get the rookies some quality minutes and have them really start generating the chemistry on the floor with their teammates. Overall, the energy from the team was great. The players on the bench were putting as much energy into the game as the players on the court and it was a great team win.”

Team USA will close out pool play against host country Colombia on Sunday, August 27 at 3 p.m. central time.

The America’s Qualifier is a classification event that determines who will compete in the 2018 IWBF World Championship in Hamburg, Germany in August. The U.S. Women’s team will be competing against Argentina, Canada, Colombia and Brazil for a spot in Germany. Team USA must finish in the top four teams in order to qualify for the world championships.

On August 28, the placement games in the women’s tournament will start at 11 a.m. central time. The bronze-medal game is scheduled for August 29 at 3 p.m. central, with the gold-medal game set for 7 p.m. central.

NWBA Hall of Famer Trooper Johnson of San Lorenzo, California, serves as the U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach. He is assisted by Amy Spangler of Madison, Wisconsin, and Adam Kramer of Northport, Alabama. Also joining the team is athletic trainer Karla Franconi of Lexington, Kentucky, and Team Leader Kearstin Gehlhausen of Denver, Colorado.

This is the first step for the U.S. Women’s Team as they are focused on advancing through the quadrennial to defend its Rio Paralympic gold medal in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Last September, Team USA also managed to break two of their own records (most points in a game and largest margin of victory) en route to the gold medal going 7-0 in the process.

Click here for the USA vs. Argentina Box Score

IWBF America’s Qualifier

Cali, Colombia

August 23-30, 2017

Results

USA def. Brazil, 55-53

Canada def. USA, 69-48

USA def. Argentina, 64-38

Schedule

Date         Time (CST) / U.S. Opponent

8/27         3 PM / Colombia

IWBF America’s Qualifier Medal Rounds

8/28         11 AM, Women’s Play-offs

8/29         3 PM, Women’s Bronze-medal game

8/29         7 PM, Women’s Gold-medal game