“This is going to be another opportunity for us to play against a very good basketball team and find out how good we are,” said U.S. head coach Ron Lykins (Stillwater, Minn.). “We need to put our first game against Canada behind us because we have to come out and play better than we did on Tuesday. We’ve got to continue to move upward as a team.”

Loraine Gonzales (Ft. Worth, Texas) was once again a major factor in the U.S. victory. Gonzales scored 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting and hit the boards for nine rebounds. Gonzales has been in double-digits in scoring in all five U.S. victories and she leads the tournament, averaging just over 18 points a game.

“This is the best team I’ve ever played for,” said Gonzales. “We have really strong unity, so when I’m out on the floor I feel very comfortable and I know my teammates have confidence in me. Those things come together and everything has just been flowing for me.”

Gonzales teamed up with Jennifer Ruddell (Champaign, Ill.) to score 47 of the U.S. team’s 57 points in Tuesday’s preliminary round win over Canada.  Lykins says it’s likely both Gonzales and Ruddell will be singled out on offense and it will be critical for the rest of the team to be ready to shoot the ball and score.

“A number of our girls have really picked up their shooting stroke since that first game,” said Lykins. "We’ve had some games where nearly everybody has scored, as well. We all know that we’re going to need help from other people on the offensive end. They’re going to have to be prepared to step up so we can get the contributions we need.” 

Though the United States team is reigning Paralympic gold medalists, Canada currently holds the world number one ranking after winning gold over the U.S. at the 2006 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.

“We are ready for whatever they throw at us,” said Gonzales. “We’re out to win a gold medal and we’re not backing down.”