Women’s wheelchair basketball advances to semi-final round after defeating Germany 71-53

PARIS – For the first time since Athens 2004, Canada is going to the women’s wheelchair basketball semi-finals.

Kady Dandeneau led Canada to a 71-53 defeat of Germany with 33 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and four steals in their quarter-final game.

The two-time Paralympian from Pender Island, BC has been leading the scoring for Canada throughout the tournament, and with her help, the team has finally broken the curse that found them finishing 5th at each of the last two world championships and at Tokyo 2020.

“We’ve been fighting for so long and we’ve been in a perpetual fifth place, so to finally do the job and get into the semi-finals, I think this win was bigger to us than any. It was like we finally broke that line and it’s unreal,” Dandeneau said following the win.

Arinn Young echoed the same reaction.

“We have always lost in the quarterfinals for literally eight years,” she said. “So it’s been very frustrating and it’s been a hurdle we’ve been trying to get through. Today it just felt like a curse has been broken.”

Canada established themselves early, taking the lead in the first few minutes of the first quarter. Germany tried to keep up, bringing themselves as close as 7-6 at one point, but could never take the lead.

Cindy Ouellet contributed well in the first, but got into foul trouble early, and had to take a seat for a while after collecting two in the first 10 minutes of play.

By the end of the first, Canada was up 17-12.

The red and white have led the tournament in bench points so far, and Arinn Young has been a huge part of that success.

Due to classification rules, Ouellet, Dandeneau, and Young can’t all be on the floor at the same time, but as soon as Young subbed on, she started adding to the effort, sinking 18 points and tallying seven assists in the match.

Canada’s biggest worry during the game was Germany’s Mareika Miller. Miller, who has played every minute of the tournament so far, is Germany’s leading scorer and extremely good at drawing fouls.

Dandeneau was a good match for Miller, though, as she drew many fouls herself, shooting 14 free throws total and did her best to keep Miller off the line.

The visiting Canadian friends and family — and the electric French crowd — really helped the team keep their strong momentum throughout the entire game.

“It’s fantastic having all our friends, our family here, but also France. Their crowds have been unreal. These stadiums are packed. This is amazing, France has just been, I can’t even… holy crap, thank you. It’s been so unreal. The energy in this gym, the vibe, they are just all in,” Dandeneau said.

Elodie Tessier was a main contributor with 11 points and a deep three-pointer in the second quarter that set the tone for Canada. Melanie Hawtin was another key factor who stayed on for all 40 minutes.

Canada carried their domination through the last three quarters, faltering only once in the fourth when they let Germany come within six points. But with two minutes left, and thanks to Dandeneau’s excellent free throw shooting, they re-established a 14-point lead.

“Today it just felt like a curse has been broken and like now there’s really not a lot of pressure on us, we can just keep our nose to the grindstone and get it done,” Young said after the game.

In the end, the Canadians took the match 71-53, sending Germany home after the quarter-finals for the first time since Sydney 2000. They will now face the Dutch in semi-final action on Friday.