Women’s wheelchair basketball team falls 72-61 to the Netherlands in semi-final; will play China for bronze

PARIS- With an opportunity to go to the final, the Canadian women lost 72-61 to the Netherlands in the wheelchair basketball semi-final.

Canada will take on China for the Bronze medal on the final day of competition at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. Canada will look to win their first Paralympic medal in wheelchair basketball since 2004 in Athens, where they took home the bronze.

After beating Germany 71-53 in the quarter-final, the defending Paralympic Champions Netherlands proved to be too much for the Canadian squad.

Arinn Young led all scorers in the game with 29 points, meanwhile Kady Dandeneau had a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to take down the Dutch duo of Bo Kramer and Mariska Beijer, who combined for 48 of the Netherlands 72 points.

Not to be for the Canadian women’s wheelchair basketball team.

What a game. What a battle. But in the end defending champion Netherlands were just too much. It’s a 72-61 final.

Canada now plays China for bronze on Sunday morning in Paris. pic.twitter.com/32A6patBXs
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) September 6, 2024

The Dutch roared out to an early 16-3 lead, only for the red and white to score 13 unanswered points and tie the game in the second quarter. Canada continued its momentum to the end of the first half, heading to the locker room with a 35-33 advantage.

“We’ve been resilient this entire tournament.” Tara Llanes said following the loss, “It doesn’t matter if we get behind by four points, six points, or maybe even eight points – we are not giving up.”

However, the Netherlands would find their game defensively, holding Canada to just 26 points in the second half, and increasing their lead late in the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run over the final 3:24 of the game.

The Dutch move on to face the Americans in the gold medal game, looking to win back-to-back gold medals, and will take home their fourth consecutive medal at the Paralympic Games regardless of the result.

Looking ahead to Canada’s bronze medal game, Canada defeated China 70-65 in the Preliminary Round, and will look to win once again in order to bring home the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.

Head Coach Michele Sung knows the team is excited to play for a medal, even with the quick turnaround following the loss, “it’s a great opportunity to podium, and I think that they’re more than ready, and that was the goal coming into this.”

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