skip navigation
- EXPIRED -

Team USA Splits Games on Day #1 of U.S. Women’s International Friendly at Lake Placid Olympic Training Center

By NWBA, 06/23/16, 9:15PM CDT

Share

Lake Placid, New York – Team USA opened the second U.S. Women’s International Wheelchair Basketball Friendly with a seven-point victory over Great Britain, 57-50, and then dropped its second game to the defending Paralympic Games gold medalists Germany, 54-47. Leading the way for Team USA was two-time U.S. Paralympian Rose Hollermann of Elysian, Minnesota, scored 36 points and grabbed 21 rebounds in the two games, while three-time U.S. Paralympian Becca Murray of Germantown, Wisconsin, put back 35 points.

 

Murray paced the United States in its game against Great Britain scoring 19 of her 25 points in the first half, and at one point Team USA commanded an 18-8 lead. Great Britain bounced back in the second quarter and was down 25-24 at half. Both teams were neck and neck throughout the rest of the game, with Team USA’s Hollermann scored six points in the last three minutes for the 57-50 win. Helen Freeman and Amy Conroy were the top scorers for Great Britain with 22 and 12 points, respectively.

 

The evening contest belonged to Germany from the start and Team USA was never able to recover from an early deficit. Germany maintained at least an eight-point lead through most the game, and increased it to 13 points in the second half, 46-33. Germany was a solid 48 percent from the floor, with Marieke Miller scoring 17 points, and Gesche Schunemann putting back 14 points.

 

Team USA, only shooting 35 percent against Germany, saw Hollermann score 19 points and grab 12 rebounds, while Murray was held to only 10 points in the game.

 

The United States will start the second day of the tournament against 2014 World Champion Canada at 9 a.m. Eastern, while Germany and Great Britain will follow at 11 a.m.

 

In 2014, Canada defeated the United States in the semi-finals of the World Championships and went onto win the gold medal, while the United States finished fourth. Last summer at the 2015 Parapan Am Games in Toronto, Team USA returned to the top of podium by edging Canada for the gold medal and qualifying for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

 

In the first game of the evening session, Great Britain came from behind to outlast Canada, 52-39. Canada came out quickly building an eight-point lead through the first quarter, however Great Britain started their comeback and never looked back. Amy Conroy scored 17 for Great Britain and was joined by Helen Freeman and Judith Hamer with 15 and 12 points each. Canada, the 2014 World champions, was led by Cindy Ouellet and Arinn Young who contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.

 

Germany started the day off by defeating Canada, 54-41, where four players reached double digits. Gesche Schunemann led the Germans with a double-double, scoring 12 points and snagging 11 rebounds. Mareike Miller contributed 14 points, with Maya Lindholm and Annika Zeyen scoring 10 points each. Rosalie Lalonde led Team Canada with 12 points.

 

In the final preparation phases for the Rio Games, the U.S. team will see a variety of teams in the next five weeks. Team USA will have one more international competition following the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center event, when Team USA travels to the Women’s World Super Cup, Frankfurt, Germany, July 13-18.

 

The U.S. women’s team qualified for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games by winning the 2015 Parapan American Games. The U.S. women dominated the Parapan Am competition by outscoring their opponents by 55 points per game and avenged their 2014 World Championships fourth-place finish by defeating Canada for the gold medal in Toronto, Canada.

 

The U.S. Women’s Head Coach is Stephanie Wheeler of Champaign, Illinois, who won two Paralympic Games in 2004 and 2008, and will be assisted by NWBA Hall of Famer Trooper Johnson of San Lorenzo, California, and Amy Spangler of Madison, Wisconsin, with Kearstin Gehlhausen of Whitewater, Wisconsin, serving as the team leader, and Karla Wessels of Lexington, Kentucky, is the athletic trainer.

 

The U.S. Women’s team finished fourth at the 2012 London Paralympics, after claiming the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing and 2004 Athens Paralympic Games.

 

2016 U.S. Women’s International Friendly

Olympic Training Center, Lake Placid, New York

June 23-25, 2016

 

Results

Game #1 – Germany def. Canada, 54-41

Game #2 – USA def. Great Britain, 57-50

Game #3 – Great Britain def. Canada, 52-39

Game #4 – Germany def. USA, 54-47

 

Schedule

Friday, June 23 (All times EDST)

9 a.m.                       Canada vs. USA

11 a.m.                    Germany vs. Great Britain

5 p.m.                       Great Britain vs. USA

7 p.m.                       Germany vs. Canada

 

Saturday, June 24 (All times EDST)

9 a.m.                       Germany vs. USA

11 a.m.                    Canada vs. Great Britain

5 p.m.                       Great Britain vs. Germany

7 p.m.                       USA vs. Canada