'We were out for blood': Canada's women to play for 5th at wheelchair basketball worlds

Like Canada's men before them, the women secured their spot in the fifth-place match at the wheelchair basketball world championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Led by Arinn Young, Canada built a 15-point lead by halftime and played Spain even the rest of the way for a 60-47 win in Sunday's 5-8 crossover game.

The 26-year-old from St. Albert, Alta., converted her lone three-point attempt of the game to extend her team's first-quarter lead to 17-8.

Young collected 13 points in the first 20 minutes but was also instrumental in her own end, pulling down 11 defensive rebounds to lead all players. She finished with a game-high 23 points, was 4-for-4 from the free throw line and added a team-high seven assists.

"I think we were out for blood in this game to redeem ourselves from the prior loss to Spain," Young told Wheelchair Basketball Canada "I think we played really aggressively, which got us our leads in this game."

The Canadian women face Australia on Monday (11:15 a.m. ET) at the Dubai World Trade Centre while the men battle Italy for fifth at 11 a.m.

The senior women's national squad was fifth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2018 worlds in Hamburg, Germany. They have won seven world championship medals since the inaugural edition in 1990, most recently gold on home soil in 2014.

"We're excited about battling for fifth and proud to be in that position," said head coach Marni Abbott-Peter, whose team dropped a 66-47 semifinal decision to the Netherlands on Saturday. "We know some of those teams that are playing in the semifinals; we had some really good games against them, so we know we're in that mix, for sure."

On June 12, free throw struggles, coupled with a shot clock violation, led to a 70-65 Canadian loss to Spain in group play.

"We missed a few layups, and then we weren't able to hit our free throws at the end — that's the difference in the game," Abbott-Peter, who was named head coach in April, said after that contest.

On Sunday, the Canadians opened the second quarter with 10 consecutive points and outscored Spain 14-2 for a 31-16 advantage at the half.

"It was great to have some payback. It's great to know we can beat a team like that," said Abbott-Peter, whose players shot 45.6 per cent from the field and went 7-for-7 from the foul line. "They gave us a bit of a run there in the third and tightened the lead a bit, but we kept our composure, kept our defence and communication strong, and were able to come out with the win."

Canada forward Kady Dandeneau, who is fourth in tournament scoring averaging 23.3 points per game, had 17 points Sunday along with five rebounds and four assists. Cindy Ouellet added eight points and six assists.

Beatriz Zudaire led the way for Spain, which put forth an 8-2 run in the third quarter to close the deficit to nine points but couldn't draw closer. She had 19 points after posting 16 in last week's loss to Canada. Victoria Alsonso Vilarino had 10 points on Sunday. The world championships determine the number of spots each zone will receive for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. The four zones in the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) are Africa, Americas, Asia Oceania and Europe. Canada's men's and women's wheelchair basketball teams will also compete at the 2023 Parapan American Games (Nov. 17-26), which will serve as the Americas zone qualification tournament for the Paris Games.