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U.S. Parapan American Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team Opens with Decisive Victory over El Salvador
By Susan Katz
// USOC Media Services
// August 13, 2007
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Desiree Miller scored 13 points in her international debut to pace the U.S. in its rout of El Salvador.
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RIO DE JANEIRO — The U.S. Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team could have easily overlooked an up-and-coming El Salvador team on Monday when it opened its competition at the 2007 Parapan American Games. Instead, the U.S. came out of the gate with a commanding 86-12 win at the Rio Multipurpose Arena.
“Sometimes it’s tough to stay focused in games like these, but we just had to remember not to practice bad habits,” said U.S. co-captain Patty Cisneros (Lake Station, Ind./Scottsdale, Ariz.). “We keyed on the things our coaches have been telling us. The team did a good job of crossing in transition, passing, getting back on defense and our intensity was there.”
The Americans were in sync from the start, executing their pressure defense to perfection, shutting out El Salvador for the first 15 minutes of the game. By the time El Salvador scored its first bucket, the U.S. had a 37 point lead that eventually grew to a 51-6 advantage at halftime.
“Every practice we talk about playing each possession like it’s a 0-0 ballgame,” said U.S. head coach Ron Lykins (Stillwater, Minn.). “We were able to put some of our new players out there in some different roles and get everybody quality time on the floor.”
All but one of the U.S. athletes played 10 or more minutes in the game and all 12 got on the scoreboard. Leading the way with 13 points was rookie Desiree Miller (Monroe, Wash./Tuscaloosa, Ala.), who is making her international debut at the Parapan Ams.
“All my shots seemed to be falling tonight,” said Miller. “We were crossing well on offense; we were passing well; and everybody was clicking. My teammates did a great job of getting me open.”
Jennifer Ruddell (Champaign, Ill.) and Sarah Castle (Centennial, Colo./Washington, D.C.) each contributed 12 points and Loraine Gonzales (Winnsboro, Texas/Ft. Worth, Texas) chipped in with 10.
Due to a change in the tournament format, the U.S. will be squaring off with archrival Canada tomorrow, in only its second game of the competition. Canada is currently the top-ranked team in the world and defeated the U.S. for the gold medal at last summer’s World Championships.
“I think we’re at a bit of a disadvantage going into the game on Tuesday,” said Lykins. “It’s good for us to have a game under out belt, but we weren’t challenged against El Salvador and we didn’t have the opportunity to work on some things we’ll need to do well against Canada. We always have a tough match-up with them and tomorrow will be no different.”
The U.S. and Canada play at 4:00 PM (local) on Tuesday, August 14 at the Rio Multipurpose Arena.
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