Day three of the Women's Wheelchair Basketball saw competitors rush to rise in the rankings and strive to secure a quarterfinal entry.
China beats Mexico 53-37
Center Fu Yongqing paced China to a 53-37 win over Mexico in a pool B preliminary game held Tuesday, September 9, at the National Indoor Stadium.
Fu, the top Chinese scorer with 13 points, led the game with 13 rebounds and six steals. With three players scoring in double digits, China counted 36 points in the paint, and 19 points from China's 24 turnovers.
Forward Lucia Vazquez Delgadillo earned 23 of Mexico's 37 points, but her teammates could not fend off China's superior defense which resulted in Chinese players stealing the ball 14 times.
Thus far in the tournament, China is 1-1 and Mexico is 0-3.
China will play its fourth pool B game against Canada on Wednesday at the National Indoor Stadium. Mexico will play their fourth pool B game, also against Canada, on Thursday at the USTB Gymnasium.
US prevails over Australia 61-42
The United States remained unbeaten after winning its first two matches against medal contenders, with a 61-42 victory over Australia.
Without committing many fouls (Australia only shot three free throws in the entire match), the US team used a 40-minute full-court defensive pressure that forced the Australians to take bad shots. The United States didn't provoke many turnovers (17) but only allowed the Aussies to score 42 points, 20 less than the points the team averaged in the first two matches.
Team USA, which beat Germany on Monday, established a nine-point difference in the second quarter (21-12) when it went on an 8-0 run and were always up in the scoreboard.
US guard Jen Ruddell scored a game-high 18 points, including 12 points in the second half, and added six rebounds. The 4.5-point guard was joined by Stephanie Wheeler, who posted 11 points and seven rebounds.
For the losing side, only Liesl Tesch reached double figures, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Shelley Chaplin and Sarah Stewart played below their level, netting 7-for-23 shots from the floor.
The US team (2-0) will play Great Britain in its third match at the USTB Gymnasium, while Australia (2-1) will face Germany (1-1) at the Indoor National Stadium. Both matches will be played on Wednesday, September 10.
Japan holds off Canada 55-52
Japan held off the reigning world champion Canada to win 55-52 in a pool B preliminary game held at the National Indoor Stadium Tuesday.
Three Japanese players scored in the double digits, led by forward Mari Amimoto with 20 points. Forward Ikumi Takubo had the most rebounds of the game (16), 14 of which were defensive rebounds.
Trailing 30-17 at the half time, Canada out-shot Japan in the fourth quarter 16-12. Several missed scoring opportunities in the fourth quarter proved Canada's undoing, however. Center Misty Thomas was the Canadians' top scorer with 15 points, as well as their top rebounder with 11 boards.
With the victory, Japan has three wins without loss, and Canada has had one win and one loss.
The two teams' next pool B games will take place Wednesday. Japan will play the Netherlands at the USTB Gymnasium. Canada will play China at the National Indoor Stadium.
Great Britain beats Brazil 61-29
Great Britain won its first match of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games as the team thumped Brazil 61-29 on its third Group A game of Women's Wheelchair Basketball at the USTB Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Based on good defense and inside shots, the Great Britain team started strong the second half and established a double-digit margin (32-20) that was never reduced by the South Americans.
Four British players scored more than 10 points. Clare Strange, Caroline Maclean, Sally Wager and Helen Turner combined for 46 points. The Europeans outscored Brazil on points in the paint 48-14.
Brazil struggled even to handle the ball as the British were very good picking and avoiding Jucilene Moraes, Brazil's most strategic player, to organize the team's offense. Moraes was the team's top scorer with 12 points but missed 18 of her 23 shots from the floor.
Great Britain (1-2) secured its spot to the quarterfinals and will now play Team USA (2-0) at the USTB Gymnasium on Wednesday, September 10. Winless Brazil's (0-3) last match will be on Thursday also against the US team, but they have no chance to advance to the quarterfinals.
(BOCOG September 9, 2008)