Quarterfinal-bound Canada made it five consecutive victories to open the women’s tournament at the wheelchair basketball world championships in Ottawa, defeating Great Britain 92-91 in double overtime on Tuesday to finish first in Group A.
Arinn Young drained a foul shot with seven seconds left on the clock to put Canada ahead 92-88 before Katie Morrow’s three-pointer at the buzzer cut the deficit to one. The forward wanted a foul call before releasing the shot but officials declared the game finished after video review.
Rookie Elise Froese made a couple of crucial foul shots with 36.9 seconds remaining to give Canada a four-point advantage at 89-85.
Britain forced a second, five-minute OT when Robyn Love nailed a three-pointer with no time on the clock at Carleton University.
The Canadians appeared on their way to victory with 42.4 seconds left in regulation when Young’s two foul shots extended her team’s lead to 70-66.
But the resilient Brits, who finished second in Group A with a 4-1 record and also advance to the quarterfinals, didn’t give up and evened matters with 25 seconds remaining, courtesy Lucy Robinson, who then had a glorious chance to send her team to victory but missed twice from the foul line.
Canada’s late-game and OT performance was impressive considering top scorer, Kady Dandeneau, was ejected in the final minute of the fourth quarter following her second unsportsmanlike foul of the match.
Canadian women dominate Brazil to improve to 4-0 in Ottawa
Her 27 points were second only to teammate Young, who scored a game-high 32. Dandeneau, who entered Tuesday leading the tournament with a 24.5 points-per-game average, also had 16 rebounds and 12 assists.
Young added 10 rebounds and five assists while Froese collected 12 points.
Love led Great Britain with 23 points, followed by Morrow (17) and Laurie Williams (14). Williams did an outstanding job getting inside the Canadian defence in the third quarter and scored nine points for a 49-48 British lead entering the fourth.
Canada shot 50 per cent from the field in the first half (45 overall) to build a 34-30 advantage. It dominated on the boards in the first 20 minutes with 23 rebounds to 13 for Great Britain. The Canadians finished the game with a 55-37 edge.
They captured gold in 2014, the last time worlds was held in Canada, in Toronto. The Canadian women reached the quarterfinals at the last world championships in Dubai in 2023, placing fifth.
Earlier Tuesday, the men’s squad dropped a 78-67 decision to Argentina in a 9th-16th place match at Carleton University.
For Argentina, which outscored Canada after the first quarter, it was its first win of the tournament in Ottawa and advances them to a 9th-12th place match.
Poland eliminates Canadian men in Round of 16
More Paralympic sports coverage
Canada had a 58-57 advantage entering the fourth quarter, but Argentina scored 21 points over the final 10 minutes while the home side mustered only nine.
Argentina captain Carlos Esteche scored 14 of his game-high 29 points in the final quarter. He also posted five rebounds and four assists.
Nik Goncin topped the Canadians with 23 points and 13 rebounds while adding seven assists. Fellow forward Colin Higgins recorded 17 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists.
Canada, which lost 79-65 to Poland in a Round of 16 game on Monday, last medalled at the tourney in 2006, winning gold in Amsterdam.
