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The Australian Gliders have named their squad to host the USA women’s wheelchair basketball team over a six-game international series, which will double as a selection camp for the 2019 Electric Cup in Tokyo, Japan, at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence from 28 June – 5 July.

Annabelle Lindsay will back up from a very strong performance at the 2019 IWBF Women’s U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Suphan Buri, Thailand, where she helped the Australian Devils claim a silver medal by finishing as the tournament’s leading scorer, sitting in the top 10 for rebounds and earning a spot in the All-Star Five.

In addition to Lindsay, the Gliders will be looking to high-point players Georgia Munro-Cook, Teisha Shadwell and Amber Merritt to provide more opportunities offensively, while mid-point players Maryanne Latu, Georgia Inglis and Shelley Cronau will add flexibility to the line-ups.

Since finishing sixth at the 2018 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, the USA have had an injection of experienced Paralympic campaigners in Rebecca Murray, Natalie Schneider, Megan Blunk and Darlene Hunter.

They are also coming off a gold medal at the 2019 IWBF Women’s U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships, and will be bringing their strongest possible line-up to take on the Gliders.

“This is a great opportunity for our Gliders to go up against one of the best teams in the world,” said Head Coach David Gould.

“USA will provide great competition which will give the Gliders opportunities to continue to work on our game style and structures.

“We will use this nine-day training camp [beginning 26 June] and international series to work on different combinations, and I’m really excited to have the whole squad together, including some overseas players fighting for selection.

“We will take a lot of learnings from the games against the USA, which will also assist us with preparing and developing the group for the AOZ [Asia and Oceania Zone] Qualifiers ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.”

During the series, Australia and the USA will also split their squads into four teams to compete in the first 3×3 international wheelchair basketball tournament for either country.

Australian Gliders squad for international series v USA
NameClassificationState
Annabelle Lindsay4.5ACT
Amber Merritt4.5WA
Georgia Munro-Cook4.5NSW
Teisha Shadwell4.5VIC
Georgia Bishop-Cash4.0QLD
Jess Cronje4.0NSW
Bree Mellberg3.5VIC
Natalie Alexander2.5WA
Shelley Cronau2.5QLD
Georgia Inglis2.5WA
Maryanne Latu2.5NSW
Hannah Dodd1.0NSW
Mary Friday1.0WA
Isabel Martin1.0VIC
Taishar Ovens1.0WA
Ella Sabljak1.0QLD
Sarah Vinci1.0WA
Australian Gliders staff for international series v USA
NameRoleState
David GouldHead CoachSA
Craig CampbellAssistant Technical CoachVIC
Stephen CharltonAssistant CoachWA
Sarah GrahamAssistant CoachNSW
Kris ThiesfieldStrength and Conditioning CoachQLD
Chloe ManuelPhysiotherapistVIC
Anna RichPhysiotherapistVIC
Cathy LambertTeam ManagerSA
Murray TresederProgram LeadWA
Michael SperanzaStrength and Conditioning Program LeadACT
Karen HaddadPerformance PsychologistNSW
Steph ShellRecoveryACT
Australian Gliders schedule for international series v USA
DateTime (AEST)Game
28 June14:00Game 1 v USA
29 June10:00Game 2 v USA
30 June14:30Game 3 v USA
1 July15:00Game 4 v USA
2 July09:153×3 international series v USA
3 July10:00Game 5 v USA
4 July09:00Game 6 v USA

By Basketball Australia
Posted: 26/06/2019
Photo with thanks to MSSP Michael Schwartz, Uli Gasper