Rio Paralympic Games: USA women win third gold medal in last four Paralympics

Rio de Janeiro (Rio 2016 Paralympic Games) – After what now feel like a brief interruption in London the USA women's team has another gold medal to go with those won in Athens and Beijing.

As in Beijing, the Americans faced Germany in the final. Only this time it was the Germans who were the defending Paralympic champions, having bested Australia in 2012. The final score was 62-45 for the winners.

The Americans were able to contain Mareike Miller and the German offense. Photo by Steve Goldberg/SCS Media 

With both teams coming out a bit tense, shooting for both teams was off the mark, especially for the United States which shot a blistering 69 percent from the field in the semifinal against Great Britain.

It was the Americans who recovered best and most of that came on the shoulders of a fearless shooter named Becca Murray who first earned her stripes on the Beijing team in 2008. While Desi Miller and Rose Hollermann were off the mark from their combined 24 of 33 against Great Britain, going 7 for 22 in the final, Murray knocked down 12 of her 20 shots to pace and push her team.

With Germany trying hard to pressure all three shooters, that left the door open for Gail Gaeng to score 11 points, mostly on pick and roll plays.

The USA led by 2 after one quarter but outscored Germany by 18 over the next 20 minutes to lead by 20 going into the fourth. The lead would peak at 25 midway through the third quarter on what else but a Murray mid-range jumper.

It was a hard and physical game. Twice Murray went to the line after flagrant fouls were called.

"We knew Germany was going to come out for a fight and that it would be an aggressive game," said Murray. "We knew we had to stay composed and not get rattled because of the aggression."

But the Germans could not contain Murray who scored 33 in the final and was the tournament's leading scorer at 24.1 points per game. Photo by Steve Goldberg/SCS Media

Even though Miller and Hollermann weren't putting in the points at the previous rate, their ability to score at any point kept Germany honest when it came to defending Murray who hit for 33 points and also had 8 rebounds and 6 assists on the night. Miller had 7 assists and 7 rebounds to go with 4 points while Hollermann scored 10, corralled 12 boards and led her team with 8 assists.

"I think we were a balanced team," explained USA coach Stephanie Wheeler, who was a player on the previous two gold medal teams.

We played with incredible composure offensively and defended intensely. - Wheeler

The defensive intensity held Germany to 5 points in the second quarter, hitting only 2 of 12 shots. It wasn't much better in the third when they only made 5 of 16.

Gesche Schunemann led Germany with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Marina Mohnen added 11 points and 5 assists. Mareike Miller had 10 points and 9 rebounds. As a team, Germany shot 32 percent for the game.

"It was hard to defend against them and we didn't really hit our baskets," said Annika Zeyen, the German floor leader. "We had a run later on, but by then it was too late."

"You have to accept that the Americans were better," said Holger Glinicki, the German coach. "We had a day when things did not go the way we wanted."

The USA have won three of the last four women's Paralympic gold medals. Photo by Steve Goldberg/SCS Media

After a run-up through the preliminary rounds and quarterfinal where she went deep into the bench, Wheeler once again decided to let her starters stay on the court. Her first substitution did not come until there was 5:22 left in the game yet there were no ill feelings from the bench.

"It is the chemistry off and on the court," explained Murray, saying the team has a collective and selfless attitude for the game and each other. "We have great friendships off the court and on the court."

Bronze Medal Game

The Netherlands won the bronze medal for the second consecutive tournament after defeating Great Britain 76-34.

It was a quick and necessary emotional turnaround for the Dutch players and staff after the crushing loss to Germany.

"Four years ago we were really happy with bronze," said Dutch coach Gertjan van der Linden, who won gold as a player at the 1992 games in Barcelona, speaking to his team's higher aspirations. "Now we will work for four years to turn the bronze into gold."

"Yesterday was the most important game and we lost. Today we wanted to get a medal and, in the end, it was an easy game. But we were only here for one goal - the gold. So it was a pity that we didn't make it."

Easy it was. Holland jumped to 17-4 lead and cruised from there as the Brits could not generate offense like they did against the Americans.

The Netherland's Mariska Beijer is most times head and shoulders above the competition on the court. Photo by Steve Goldberg/SCS Media

Mariska Beijer led all scorers and the Netherlands with 21 points with Inge Huitzing adding 18 and Carina de Rooij 12. Helen Freeman led Great Britain with 7.

"It is disappointing but this team has come so far in the last four years," said GB's Sophie Carrigill. "Our goal was reaching a semifinal and we achieved that. Anything else was going to be bonus."

There are tears but that is sport for you and they were better on the day. - Carrigill

Placement Games

Canada 63-52 China

Brazil 59-37 France

Argentina 53-38 Algeria

The final placement for the women in the Rio Paralympic Games is:

Gold	USA	7-0
Silver	Germany	5-2
Bronze	Netherlands	5-2
4th	Great Britain
5th	Canada	4-2
6th	China	2-4
7th	Brazil	2-4
8th	France	1-5
9th	Argentina	1-4
10th	Algeria	0-5