These two teams have battled for international dominance for nearly 20 years and until three years ago, it was Canada that always came out on top. At the 2004 Paralympic Games, the U.S. knocked Canada off the top of the medal podium at a major international competition for the first time since 1990 and since then, it’s been a back-and-forth contest. Most recently, Canada defeated the U.S. for gold at the 2006 World Championships.

On Tuesday night, the U.S. immediately came out in an aggressive full-court press that was executed to a tee for the first 20 minutes of the game. The incessant defensive pressure forced Canada into a frenzy that led to 15 first half turnovers and resulted in a 32-17 U.S. lead at halftime.

“Our press actually helps us set the tone on offense, not just defense,” said U.S. co-captain Jennifer Ruddell (Champaign, Ill.) “When we do a really good job on defense and get out there and stop chairs right away, it makes them play us instead of us play them and we can settle in and play our game.” 

Offensively, the U.S. game rested heavily on the shoulders of Ruddell and first-year player Loraine Gonzales (Ft. Worth, Texas), who combined to score 47 of the team’s 57 points. Though Canada has an overall height advantage on the U.S., hard work on the baseline by Jennifer Howitt (Orinda, Calif./Bristol, U.K.) continually got the 6’1” Gonzales open in the post and Gonzales continued to deliver. She posted a double-double, pouring in 27 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.  Ruddell put 20 points on the board on 9-of-16 shooting.

“Canada is a big rival and we went in there with the attitude of playing our game, not theirs,” said Gonzales.  “We have a talented, versatile team and we went out there and did our thing.”

Though the U.S. maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the game, there was a stretch late in the fourth quarter where that lead could have been in jeopardy. The U.S. was ahead 47-37 with five minutes remaining in the game when Gonzales was called for a personal advantage foul, which counts as a technical foul. Canada’s Misty Thomas converted both free throws and suddenly the U.S. lead was down to eight.  But, the Americans threw the press back on and stayed mentally tough to ensure the victory.

“We played pretty smart whole game. Though we had some instances where we didn’t do smart things, our guys stayed in the game,” said U.S. head coach Ron Lykins (Stillwater, Minn.). “We’d been playing well all game and then they made that little bit of a comeback late in the fourth. That could have tripped us up, but we tightened it up a little bit and we were able to hang in there.”

It is likely the U.S. will meet Canada again in the medal round and though Lykins was pleased with his team’s effort, he says there is still much work to be done before Saturday’s championship.

“Speed is an important feature for us.  We don’t have as much height and experience as other teams, so it’s crucial that we use our speed,” said Lykins. “We used it well in first half, but in the second half we didn’t do as good of a job.  We got soft, Canada took advantage of that and got good looks on us.  So, we have a lot of things we still need to work on.”

Preliminary round play continues for the U.S. on Wednesday, Aug. 14, when the Americans face Argentina at 6:00 p.m. (local).