Lake Placid, New York – Team USA avenged its Thursday defeat against the 2012 Paralympic champion Germany at the U.S. Women’s Wheelchair Basketball International Friendly, winning Saturday morning by a convincing 22-point margin, 65-43. Both squads finished the three-day competition with 5-1 records. The United States started out with a quick lead and never looked back, and had a 14-6 lead after the first quarter, and then increased its lead to 16 at the half, 32-16.
The 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team outshot the Germans 51-38 percent from the floor, almost a complete flip-flop from Thursday’s contest. Leading the way for the Americans was two-time Paralympian Desi Miller of Monroe, Washington, who was 11 for 19 from the floor for 22 points. Three-time U.S. Paralympian Becca Murray of Germantown, Wisconsin, was right behind with 21 points going 9 for 19 from the floor and 3 for 4 from the foul line. Two-time U.S. Paralympian Rose Hollermann of Elysian, Minnesota, collected a total of 13 rebounds, and scored 12 points, for the double-double.
A stingy U.S. defense shut down the inside game of the Germans, and controlled the rebound game, 43-25. Germany’s Gesche Schuemann and Marina Mohnen were held to only 17 and 12 points, respectively. The U.S. trio tabulated accounted for 17 of 19 points in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
In the closing game of the day, Team USA cruised to a 69-32 victory over 2014 World champion Canada, having seven of 12 score throughout the 40-minute game. Once again, Murray (27 points) and Hollermann (20 points) scored 47 points in total. Team USA was 52 percent from the floor, while Canada finished 29 percent in shooting. Canada’s Arinn Young collected 13 points, and Cindy Oulett drained 10 points.
In the other games, Great Britain and Canada swapped the lead seven times over the course of the second and third quarters, and were tied after both stanzas, 28-28 after second, and 42-42 after the third. In the fourth, Helen Freeman and Amy Conroy put up a collective 14 points to defeat Canada, 70-50.
The evening game between Germany and Great Britain was a close affair, with Germany narrowly escaping for a 59-54 win. Germany held a six-point lead after the first, 14-8, and Great Britain was only able to tie or have a slight advantage in the remaining quarters. Germany’s Mohnen was the leading scorer with 23 points, with Marieke Miller reaching double digits with 10 points. Great Britain saw four athletes reach double digits in scoring: Freeman (17 points); Jordanna Bartlett (12 points); Clare Griffiths (10 points); and Amy Conroy (10 points).
Up next for Team USA will be a trip to Frankfurt, Germany, for the 2016 Women’s World Super Cup, July 13-18. Team USA will have one more training camp at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center, August 8-12, before traveling to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Paralympic Games.
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
Records: 1. (tie) Germany and United States, 5-1; 3. Great Britain, 3-3; Canada, 0-6
Results
Thursday, June 23
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
Friday, June 24
Game #5 – USA def. Canada, 86-45
Game #6 – Germany vs. Great Britain, 50-35
Game #7 – USA def. Great Britain, 57-42
Game #8 – Germany def. Canada, 52-37
Saturday, June 25
Game #9 – USA def. Germany, 65-43
Game #10 – Great Britain def. Canada, 70-50
Game #11 – Germany def. Great Britain, 59-54
Game #12 – USA vs. Canada, 69-32
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