U.S. Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Survives Scare From Great Britain To Advance to Semifinal

PARIS – Ixhelt Gonzalez converted an uncontested lay-up off a sweet backdoor pass from Becca Murray to give Team USA a 53-50 lead over Great Britain. It was a defining moment and a lead that the U.S. wouldn’t relinquish over the final two minutes in a 59-52 victory over their fellow English-speaking foes.

“It was a moment of relief – it felt like the world was off of our shoulders,” said Gonzalez, about the pivotal play.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games quarterfinal win at Bercy Arena on Wednesday afternoon sends the U.S. women onwards to a semifinal contest versus China, in two days, on Friday, Sept. 6.

Gonzalez – who at age 20, is the youngest player on Team USA – led the winning effort, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Rose Hollermann tallied 15 points and 13 boards.

Hollermann commended the red-hot Gonzalez, a petit player who displays experience on the hardwood well beyond her years.

“Ixhelt is young, but this is her second Paralympics – you can see that she is seasoned,” Hollermann said. “She’s changed her mentality and is kind of like our fire right now offensively. She comes off the bench with such intensity. 

“We’ve had her on the team since she was teeny-tiny, so seeing this moment is really incredible for us,” she added.

The U.S. appeared to be cruising comfortably, possessing a 31-24 halftime lead. However, they would let it slip away. Great Britain’s Robyn Love scored from outside the paint to nab the lead, 48-47, with just over seven minutes remaining in the back-and-forth affair.

However, the U.S. didn’t panic and after more than two minutes without either team finding the net, Hollerman broke the drought scoring two key points off a nice feed from Courtney Ryan. The U.S. regained the lead, 49-48. Team GB jumped back ahead one minute later with two more from Love, before U.S. team captain Murray answered one minute later to propel the U.S. ahead, this time for keeps.

“It’s all about trust on this team and we wanted to make sure that no matter what happened in the third quarter, or the second half that we would come out on top,” said Gonzalez, who resides in Chicago, but whose parents are of Mexican descent.

The largest U.S. lead was 10 points, while at one stage Great Britain led by four.