OTTAWA — Just one point, but it’s a point that won’t soon be forgotten by Canada’s women’s wheelchair basketball 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. The Americans won on a free throw with 20.8 seconds left in regulation time. “That was particularly hard,” said Canada’s Kady Dandeneau, who led all scorers with 34 points. “It was my fault that we got that foul and it proved to be the difference and that sucks.” Dandeneau finished the game 15-for-34 from the field with 13 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one blocked shot. Both Canada and the U.S. entered the final with identical 5-0 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. Veteran Arinn Young was solid for Canada in the opening quarter scoring 15 of their 27 points, including a pair of three-pointers. She finished the game with 30 points. “It was a tough first quarter,” said American Lindsey Zurbrugg. “Mad respect to Canada. I think we made some really good adjustments after that. I think like tiny adjustments of our chairs was the defensive edge we needed.” Zurbrugg had a team high 26 points, seven assists and two rebounds for the U.S. Aside from the first quarter it was a fairly even game. There were 14 lead changes, but things were ultimately decided in the fourth quarter. Canada held a 41-38 lead at the half, but the U.S. started to really push back in the 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. “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. “We’ve shown that in a few different games. We’ve shown the ability to score on offence and get the stops on defence. “We made mistakes today, but we built enough character to be able to bounce back from mistakes.” The U.S opened a seven-point lead, 71-64, with just over three minutes remaining in regulation. Canada came back to tie the game 76-76 with 39.1 seconds remaining. 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. “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. “And credit to the U.S. they had a one-point longer run than we did.” Canada hasn’t won a medal at a world championship since 2014, when the tournament was last held on Canadian 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. “It’s really hard to put into words what it means to be able to play on home soil twice,” shared Young. “I’m so thankful. Thankful to our fans, my team and our staff. Without them we wouldn’t have this, so I guess that’s the silver lining to everything.” This marked the first time the men’s and women’s world championships were held concurrently. Canada’s men’s team went 1-3 in the tournament. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2026. Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press
