Kady Dandeneau’s 33-point, 11-rebound double-double pushed the Canadian women’s wheelchair basketball team to a 71-53 victory over Germany to advance to the semi-final round at Paris 2024.
Arinn Young scored 18 points and Elodie Tessier added 10 in a dominant victory for the Canadians, who will take on the Netherlands on Friday with a chance to make the gold medal game.
Mareike Miller led the way for Germany with 18 points and 14 assists, while Nathalie Passiwan finished with 14 points in a losing effort.
Canada will play in its first semi-final since the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, where they ended up losing in the bronze medal match against their upcoming opponent, the Netherlands.
“That’s obviously the biggest challenge we were facing to get ourselves out of this perpetual fifth place, so doing the job is amazing,” Dandeneau said. “I think everybody will have a huge weight off their shoulders after that one.”
Dandeneau started out this game hot, recording 13 of Canada’s first 15 points.
After Cindy Ouellet picked up her second personal foul with a minute remaining in the quarter, she was subbed out for Arinn Young, who proceeded to pick up an assist, a steal, and draw two free throws on the next two possessions to give Canada a 17-12 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play.
Canada widened the gap in the second quarter, outscoring Germany 17-10 in the period with six points courtesy of Rosalie Lalonde and four points from Tessier to give Canada a 34-22 lead at halftime.
Miller made things interesting in the fourth quarter as the 34-year-old racked up eight quick points on an 11-0 run for the Germans to cut Canada’s lead to 10 with three minutes remaining. That was as close as they would get, with Canada outscoring Germany 12-5 in the final minutes to secure their spot in the medal round.
Next up, the Dutch, coming off a gold medal in 2021 at the Paras in Tokyo.
“We’ve seen (them). We know them well. It’s not like they’ve changed a ton,” said Dandeneau. “They’re a well-oiled machine, but I think if we just keep rolling the way we are right now, keep our momentum, focus on the things we do well, we’re going to match up great against them.”
