The last match of the day the last of the women’s quarter finals USA against the home nation Brazil.
It was USA women who jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game, before Brazil scored an opening layup. The U.S. kept the scoring strong through the rest of the quarter increasing its first quarter lead to 21-4, with Hollermann contributing 10 points and three-time Murray, adding 7 points.
In the second quarter USA turned on the defensive pressure that forced long shots and a several shot-clock violations by Brazil, allowing USA to capitalize ending the half 35-13.
The third quarter of the game the home team showed determination and fight as they kept the score for the quarter within just one point. 11 -10. But the USA were clinical in their performance and ensured they wrapped up the win to take the final place in the semi-finals.
Brazil’s Ana Aurelia Rosa said, “This was not the first time we’ve played against the USA so we know them and what they can do but we came into the game happy and not stressed because the onus was on them to win the match. And the fact that we’ve have made it to a quarter finals for the first time ever is even better”
USA’s Gail Gaeng said, “It feels amazing to be in the semi-finals. All the hard work has finally paid off and we are excited for it and ready to go.
“Our coaches gave us a really nice game plan for this game and we were ready to go. We went over video and what we were going to do in practice so we were prepared and we stuck with it.
“Great Britain are a great team so it’s definitely going to be a hard semi-final, but I think we are confident in our abilities so we are excited for it.”
USA’s Head Coach, Stephanie Wheeler, said, “There are some good things that we saw tonight that we have to build upon and fix in order to compete in the semifinal game against Great Britain. We will be watching video of Great Britain’s games in the quarterfinals and then taking that to the practice court tomorrow. We are going to work hard at practice to fix the things we missed on tonight.”
The United States will play Great Britain in the semi finals. For full match results click here https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/wheelchair-basketball-womens-quarterfinal-wb-8