Former UNBC Timberwolves star Kady Dandeneau powered Canada's women's wheelchair basketball team to a second straight win Thursday with a dominating 61-35 win over host Japan at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
Dandeneau led the way with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists off the bench, while Arinn Young added 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Cindy Ouellet chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
“Dandeneau came off the bench fresh,” said women’s head coach, Marc Antoine Ducharme. “We put the starting lineup together to press Japan full-court and then afterwards, Kady came in. Kady is just Kady. She can score from everywhere. She did an amazing job from the bench.”
After Japan (1-1) opened the tournament with a 54-48 win over Great Britain, Canada (2-0) knew they would need to be defensively sound against the host nation.
Canada held Japan to just 16 of 62 from the field and didn’t allow Japan to score from beyond the arc. Team Canada meanwhile shot 40 per cent from the field and went 4 for 9 from three-point range in the win.
Dandeneau and her teammates play next at 1 a.m. Saturday morning Pacific time against Germany and then at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning Pacific time against Australia.
