Team Canada Women to Battle for Fifth Place at 2018 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships; Canadian Men Vie for 11th

Canadian women overpower France 77-38 in consolation playoff match

  • Canadian women (4-3) to play the United States (4-3) for fifth place, while Canadian men (2-2) take on Italy (2-2) for 11th place on Saturday
  • Arinn Young put up a game-high 26 points on blistering hot 78 per cent shooting

(Hamburg, Germany) The Canadian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team will face rival the United States for fifth place at the 2018 World Championships in Hamburg after cruising past France 77-38 in the consolation playoffs on Friday. The battle for fifth place gets underway at 6:15 a.m. ET on Saturday.

The Canadian men also return to action on Saturday to face Italy for 11th place at 3:30 a.m. ET.

The Canadian women rebounded from a disappointing loss in the quarter-finals with a dominant performance against the French. Canada was relentless on the attack both inside and outside of the key, doubling up France on the scoreboard 42-21 at the half. Canada shut down France with a complete team game, as all 12 Canadians were involved in the win.

“We had a really hard loss the other day and a lot of the girls have been dwelling on it, so this was a really good way to show the world Canada can fight through adversity and come out with some wins. Now we can put our focus on coming out top five in the world,” said Arinn Young (Legal, Alta.).

Young put up a game-high 26 points on blistering hot 78 per cent shooting, including going nine-for-11 from two-point range and two-for-three from beyond the three-point line. Cindy Ouellet (Quebec, Que.) and Kady Dandeneau (Pender Island, B.C.) each added 10 points.

Coming off a strong performance in the quarter-finals, head coach Marc Antoine Ducharme started Dandeneau, who made a big impact early on by scoring in the paint and setting up teammates well throughout the quarter. She finished the quarter with six points, three rebounds, and five assists. Ouellet also helped the Canadian squad in the offensive half, tallying eight points on four-for-six shooting to give Canada a 20-11 lead at the end of the quarter.

In the second, Young came off the bench to explode for 14 of Canada’s 22 second-quarter points on six-for-eight shooting. Canada doubled France’s score after the second, up 42-21.

Canada continued to push offensively after the half, led by five straight points by Maude Jacques (Lac Beauport, Que.) to start the third. But Canada really sealed the deal in the final frame as Young went off for 12 straight points in five minutes on five-for-six shooting from the field.

While the team contributed well as a whole offensively, the Canadian defence completely dominated, forcing multiple turnovers especially at the end of the shot clock. Canada scored 22 points off French turnovers.

Canadians can watch the games live on the Wheelchair Basketball Canada and Canadian Paralympic Team Facebook pages and through CBC Sports at cbcsports.ca.

About the 2018 World Championships

The 2018 IWBF World Championships feature 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams vying for the world title as the top athletes in the game showcase the elite skill, pure athleticism and dynamic speed that allows wheelchair basketball to captivate audiences around the globe. The event is a catalyst for promoting inclusion and marks the largest world championship in the history of the sport and one of the largest international parasport events outside of the Paralympic Games.

For more information visit the schedule and results page or follow Team Canada along the journey to Hamburg on social media via FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

About Wheelchair Basketball Canada

Wheelchair Basketball Canada is the national sport governing body responsible for the organization of the sport in Canada. It is a non-profit, charitable organization that is committed to excellence in the development, support and promotion of wheelchair basketball programs and services for all Canadians from grassroots to high performance. Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, competitive sport in which Canada is held in high esteem around the world for winning a combined six gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in the last seven Paralympic Games.

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