Pender Island’s Kady Dandeneau has been instrumental in Canada’s first two Paralympic wheelchair basketball games, helping the women’s team advance to a 2-0 start in Tokyo.
Dandeneau dominated in Canada’s first game on Aug. 25. She posted a triple-double with 32 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists during the 73-54 win over Great Britain.
She credited her teammates for allowing her to get open on the floor during her Paralympic debut.
“It definitely feels good to be a big contributor in games like that,” Dandeneau said after the game. “Honestly, it was just a really good team win.”
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After an evenly matched first half, the Canadians outscored Great Britain by 22 points in the second. Dandeneau said the team’s chemistry helped spur the strong finish.
“I think we did a really good job of adjusting and adapting and really pulled it together,” she said. “Things were flowing at the end, we were just firing on all cylinders.”
The women carried that momentum into Friday’s game against Japan, delivering a crushing 61-35 win over the host team.
After coming off the bench, Dandeneau again led the Canadians on the court. Marc Antoine Ducharme, the Canadian women’s head coach, said Dandeneau entered the game fresh before she posted 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
“We put the starting lineup together to press Japan full-court and then afterwards, Kady came in,” Ducharme said. “Kady is just Kady. She can score from everywhere. She did an amazing job from the bench.”
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