| Friday June 16, 2000 Canada/Australia Series
Tied at 2 Games Apiece
Sydney - Canada's women's national wheelchair basketball
team continued their Australian tour Friday at the Sydney SuperDome with an interesting
34-43 loss to their Aussie hosts.
The Canadians were able to try a number of different lineup combinations as well as give
everyone significant minutes yet were still in a position to win the game in the late
stages. Canada held Australia to 31% shooting, but were unable to convert their own
opportunities, shooting a dismal 29% from 2 point range. The statistics for the game in
most categories were fairly even, but the shot charts for quality scoring opportunities
favoured Canada immensely. The easy shots were Canada's undoing as they converted only 10
of their 24 layups. By contrast Australia had only 11 layups but scored 8.
Guest Coach Ross MacDonald of Douglas College remarked "Tactically we outplayed the
Aussies and technically we are better shooters. We've got the tools to do the job and the
future prospects are encouraging. It was our top players who had trouble today."
Lori Radke carried the load for Canada in the game with 17 points on 8 for 11 shooting and
1 out of 5 from the foul line. Radke, Renee DelColle and Marnie Peters each had 7
rebounds. Canada's next highest scorer was Tracey Ferguson with 4 points while Peters
chipped in with 3 points.
Other scorers for Canada with 2 points apiece included Joanne Kelly, Sabrina Pettinicchi,
Chantal Benoit, Renee Del Colle and Kendra Ohama. Pettinicchi also picked up 3 assists.
Calgary's Michelle Stilwell had another solid outing with numerous backpicks and screens.
Co-captain Linda Kutrowski was rested for the game while BC's Marni Abbott got some much
needed rest as well. Edmonton's Jennifer Krempien left the game early as a
precautionary measure after taking a deflected pass in the face.
"The Australians are a bit rough at times" said cautious Head Coach Tim Frick of
Douglas College, "we didn't want to sustain any injuries at this stage of the season.
We've seen the Paralympic village, the competition venues and a number of other Paralympic
sites, and we've played possum now and again, so overall the trip has been a great
success. There's still another game in the SuperDome - in the past we've only had pictures
of the competition sites to use in our imagery sessions. This time we have the real thing.
The team is at the end of a long stretch of intense training and competing and the players
are definitely in need of some recovery."
Saturday is a day off for the Canadian team as the series wraps up Sunday evening.
For more information please contact:
Wendy Gittens, Executive Director CWBA 613 260-1296
For more information, please contact:
Wendy Gittens, Executive Director CWBA, 613 260-1296
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