It was three games, three wins for Team Canada on Gameday #2 of the Papendal Tournament in Arnhem, Netherlands.
In the words of the Sr. Women’s National Team assistant coach Marni Abbott-Peter:
“It was a great day on court today for the Canadian women. We faced Mexico this morning in a game that saw all 12 players contribute significantly to a solid 64-38 win.
Janet McLachlan: 12 points, 7 rebounds
Cindy Ouellet: 11 points, 4 assists
Elisha Williams: 9 points, 4 assists
The team played a variety of full and half-court defense, and took care of the ball well with very few turnovers.
After a long, hot afternoon/evening, we played our second game of the day against the scrappy Great Britain team. Both teams got off to a bit of a slow start. We battled our way to the halftime break with a 29-27 lead. Foul trouble forced Coach Johnson to be creative with lineups and substitutions. We kept our composure and played a fantastic 4th quarter, outscoring the Brits 22-15, and won the game with a final score of 67-60.
Janet McLachlan: led all scorers with 31 points, 17 rebounds
Katie Harnock: 19 points
Cindy Ouellet: 11 points, 12 assists
Helen Freeman of Great Britain led her team with 20 points.
We have secured a spot in the championship game on Sunday with three solid
wins under our belts. Tomorrow we will play the Netherlands, who are also undefeated so far. It is likely we will play them again in the Final on Sunday, and ironically, we will meet them in our first round-robin game at the Paralympics in London.
In other action today, the Canadian men beat Turkey today 75-63. Once again, Coach Tonello played all 12 players and worked on a variety of technical aspects of their game. It was a rough one, with 49 fouls called, and the Canadians capitalized on this by shooting 88% from the foul line.
It is really hot here and supposed to be even warmer and more humid tomorrow, and despite several strategies for keeping cool and hydrated, we are all feeling the impact of the heat. The Brits have assured us that the weather in London will be much cooler and wetter!”
Tomorrow, the Canadian men (2-0) square off against Germany, while the women (3-0) are set to face the hosts of the tournament, the Netherlands.