Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-19 · by Lisa Wallace The Canadian Press
In the women's wheelchair basketball world championships final held at TD Place in Ottawa, Canada lost to the United States by a single point, 77-76. The decisive moment came when an American player successfully made a free throw with just under 21 seconds left in regulation time. Kady Dandeneau led all scorers for Canada with 34 points, while Arinn Young contributed 30 points. Both teams entered the final undefeated, but after Canada took an early lead, the U.S. gradually overcame to clinch victory and win gold.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In the wheelchair basketball world championships final on Saturday at TD Place, Canada lost to the United States by a single point, 77-76. The decisive moment came when Courtney Ryan hit the game-winning free throw with 20.8 seconds left in regulation. Leading scorer for Canada was Kady Dandeneau who scored 34 points but admitted it was her fault that led to the American's winning shot. Both teams entered the final undefeated, and despite starting strong with a 27-20 lead after the first quarter, Canada couldn't hold off the Americans' late-game adjustments.
Written for “Women Wheelchair Basketball Final” on 2026-10-04,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
OTTAWA - Just one point, but it’s a point that won’t soon be forgotten by Canada’s women’s wheelchair basketball team.
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that → ’ → team
That point cost Canada the gold medal at the wheelchair basketball world championships where they lost 77-76 to the United States on Saturday at TD Place.
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they → cost → Place
The Americans won on a free throw with 20.8 seconds left in regulation time.
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Americans → win → time
“That was particularly hard,” said Canada’s Kady Dandeneau, who led all scorers with 34 points.
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who → say → points
“It was my fault that we got that foul and it proved to be the difference and that sucks.”
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that → get → foul
Dandeneau finished the game 15-for-34 from the field with 13 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
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Dandeneau → finish → rebounds
Both Canada and the U.S. entered the final with identical 5-0 records.
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Canada → enter → records
Canada got the start they wanted, jumping out to a 27-20 lead after the first quarter, but the U.S. improved as the game went on.
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game → get → quarter
Veteran Arinn Young was solid for Canada in the opening quarter scoring 15 of their 27 points, including a pair of three-pointers.
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Young → score → pointers
She finished the game with 30 points.
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She → finish → points
“It was a tough first quarter,” said American Lindsey Zurbrugg.
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Zurbrugg → say → ?
I think we made some really good adjustments after that.
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we → think → that
I think like tiny adjustments of our chairs was the defensive edge we needed.”
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we → think → chairs
There were 14 lead changes, but things were ultimately decided in the fourth quarter.
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things → be → quarter
Canada held a 41-38 lead at the half, but the U.S. started to really push back in the third.
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U.S. → hold → third
Canada was able to make a push late in the quarter to take a one-point lead, 60-59, heading into the fourth quarter.
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Canada → make → quarter
“When you get into a world championship every team is good and you have to have that resilience and character to be down and be able to fight back,” said Jeremy Lade, head coach of the U.S. women’s team.
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Lade → get → team
“We’ve shown that in a few different games.
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We → show → games
We’ve shown the ability to score on offence and get the stops on defence.
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We → show → defence
“We made mistakes today, but we built enough character to be able to bounce back from mistakes.”
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we → make → mistakes
The U.S opened a seven-point lead, 71-64, with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.
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minutes → open → regulation
Canada came back to tie the game 76-76 with 39.1 seconds remaining.
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Canada → come → seconds
A late foul put Courtney Ryan on the line where she hit what would prove to be the game-winning shot with 20.8 seconds remaining.
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what → put → seconds
“We talk a lot about basketball being a game of runs and you want to mitigate their runs and maximize ours,” said Canadian head coach Joey Johnson.
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Johnson → talk → ours
“And credit to the U.S. they had a one-point longer run than we did.”
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we → have → run
Canada hasn’t won a medal at a world championship since 2014, when the tournament was last held on Canadian soil.
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tournament → win → soil
Young was a rookie at that tournament in 2014 and knows opportunities to play a major on home soil don’t come around very often.
“
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opportunities → know → soil
It’s really hard to put into words what it means to be able to play on home soil twice,” shared Young.
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Young → ’ → soil
“I’m so thankful.
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I → ’m → ?
Without them we wouldn’t have this, so I guess that’s the silver lining to everything.
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that → have → everything
This marked the first time the men’s and women’s world championships were held concurrently.
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championships → mark → time
Canada’s men’s team went 1-3 in the tournament.
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team → go → tournament
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2026.
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report → publish → Press
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