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Australia is facing a tough task to make the quarter-finals of the women’s wheelchair basketball after suffering a second consecutive loss on Thursday to start their Tokyo 2020 campaign.
The Gliders were punished for a poor first half against Germany, including a run where they conceded 19 unanswered points, and went down to the European powerhouse 77-58 at Mushasino Forest Sport Plaza.
Germany, which has made the past three Paralympic finals, didn’t miss a shot from the field until just before quarter-time and led 45-25 at half-time.
The Gliders outscored their opposition by one point after the long break but the damage had been done, leaving Australia 0-2 and needing to beat either Great Britain or Canada to make the top eight.
“That second half today when we were up an about, we look amazing, we’ve just got to start doing that for 40 minutes instead of half a game,” assessed experienced Glider Sarah Vinci.
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Apart from facing one of the most consistent forces in Paralympic women’s basketball, the Gliders were forced to back up from a late finish the day before, while Germany was making it first appearance in the tournament.
“I’m not gonna lie, a bit of extra sleep would have been really good for us, it was a bit of quick turnaround,” Vinci said.
30-year-old West Australian Vinci is one of only two players who was a part of the Gliders silver medal winning team in London nine years ago and conceded this is a very different campaign.
“We had a lot more time together in 2012 and we were a much more experienced team,” she said.
“We’ve been through a bit with COVID and classifications and losing some of our key players but, overall, I still think we are quite competitive, and we can put great things out there.”
Vinci stressed the need to stay positive ahead of the next two pool games.
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“No putting our heads down, no thinking its all over, think positive and keep moving forward,” she said.
“I believe in this team. We have got some great talent in our team we have just got to put it all together.”
Australia is not scheduled to play on Friday and returns to the court against Great Britain at Ariake Arena on Saturday.
GERMANY 77 d AUSTRALIA 58 (Amber Merritt 27 points, 10 rebounds; Georgia Munro-Cook 14 points; Hannah Dodd 7 points)
NEXT GAME: Saturday August 28 v GREAT BRITAIN at Ariake Arena (9.30pm AEST 8.30PM local)
By: Quentin Hull, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 26 August 2021
