Stephanie Wheeler led a strong defensive effort in the U.S. gold medal win over Canada, grabbing six rebounds and three steals to accompany her 10 points.

“We struggled offensively the whole game, but we were able to maintain the intensity on defense and forced them to make 31 turnovers,” said U.S. head coach Ron Lykins (Stillwater, Minn.). “In the past, this is the kind of game we would have lost.  But, we’re starting to get mentally tough and we were able to hang in there. It’s been a long time since we’ve struggled on offense against Canada and still been able to pull off the win.”

The U.S.’s killer defense has helped provide the team with a spark on offense all throughout this week’s tournament. On Saturday night, the U.S. still counted on its patented full-court press to hold off the Canadians, but the shots weren’t dropping on the other end. The team shot a woeful 28% from the floor on 18-of-65 shooting, but still managed to keep Canada in check.

The U.S. was able to maintain a small lead through the first three quarters and then blew open a 13-point lead with seven minutes remaining in the game. At that point, it looked as though the U.S. would be cruising to its gold medal, but Canada is loaded with experienced veterans that know how to win ballgames.

“We knew they weren’t going to give up,” said Lykins. “You’re not a four-time world champion and three-time Paralympic champion because you lose one game in pool play then come out and lay an egg in the gold medal game.” 

In just a two and a half minute span in the middle of the fourth quarter, Canada proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to close the gap to just four points, 43-39. But, a clutch jumper from Stephanie Wheeler (Tuscaloosa, Ala./Norlina, N.C.) with 3:25 to go put the U.S. back in control by six and with time quickly winding off the clock, Canada was forced to start fouling.

“Once again our defense was the key,” said U.S. co-captain Jennifer Ruddell (Champaign, Ill.), who led the team with 21 points. “We had a really tough time getting our shots to fall, but we never let up our defensive intensity and that’s what kept us in the game. Once we settled down, we got into a rhythm and made them play our game.”

Loraine Gonzales (Ft. Worth, Texas) also came up big for the U.S. again. She posted another double-double, this time scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, and Wheeler’s late bucket was part of a 10-point performance that capped off an enormous defensive effort.

“This is awesome!  I’m so happy,” said U.S. co-captain Patty Cisneros (Scottsdale, Ariz./Lake Station, Ind.). “We could not get into the flow of the game, but we just had to keep reminding ourselves that we weren’t playing a bad game, it was just that our shots weren’t falling. This whole tournament our mantra has been that we have to play our game and we kept sending that message out to each other to help keep us in it.” 

The team now returns home and sets its sights on the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. The U.S. is defending Paralympic gold medalists, but six athletes from the 2004 team have retired and will not be returning for next year’s Games. 

“We’re a young group, but this is a good team that showed me that they play with a lot of mental toughness,” said Lykins. “They know how to play, they play hard, they play smart, and they play together. It takes a lot of character to hang tough when things aren’t going your way and then to eventually will things to go your way, like this team did to win a gold medal.”