[Archive 2012-09-05] Gliders move into the medal round with victory over Mexico

Historical archive — originally published 2012-09-05. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

London, England— A 62 points to 37 quarter-final win against Mexico on Tuesday night saw Australia's Gliders go forward into the medal round in front of a four-thousand-plus crowd at the Greenwich North Arena.

Winners of their group, Australia have never taken the gold in wheelchair basketball; their opponents, Mexico, were previously ranked ninth at the opening of the tournament, so making it thus-far boosts their ranking to eighth. They were, however, beaten by Australia 75 points to 45 in a pre-tournament warm up match.

Australia's first shot at goal was taken by Bridie Kean, from the free throw line; but, she missed both shots. Mexico's Lucia Vazquez Delgadillo then became the opened the scoring to give Mexico a two-point lead, their biggest of the entire game. Seconds later, Cobo Crispin had a shot from the paint, but missed; Kylie Gauci then finally put points on the scoreboard for the Gliders.

Mexico turned the ball over, and Cobi Crispin got her first from the paint, assisted by Kylie Gauci. This was repeated on the next play, with Sarah Stewart providing the assist. Mexico then scored, the Gliders responding with another shot from Cobi Crispin. On the next play, Kylie Gauci stole the ball and charged down the court, but failed to make the shot. Clare Nott took a defensive rebound, leading to Cobi Crispin scoring again. She was also fouled. but missed the resulting free throw. Shortly thereafter, Sarah Stewart took another foul, and made both shots to bring the score to 14 points to 4.

Mexico had great difficulty moving the ball up the court; suffering by timing out, or being forced into long shots that missed. But, when the same happened to the Gliders, Kylie Gauci, a two-point player, took a spectacular three point shot to take the score to 17 points to 8 in Australia's favour. Mexico then managed to score again before Amber Merritt came on with only three minutes left in the quarter, and missed her first shot at goal. A second attempt, coming from a pass by Kylie Gauci, put more points on the scoreboard.

With only a few seconds remaining in the quarter, Kylie Gauci stole the ball and delivered it to Shelley Chaplin, who scored again. The two teams went into the quarter-time break with the score 21 points to 10.

In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Shelley Chaplin assisted Cobi Crispin, and then Amber Merritt, to add another four points. Attempting to respond, Mexico missed two shots before scoring then, on the next play, allowed Amanda Carter to steal the ball, which led to Amber Merritt scoring again.

Australia followed this up with steals by Cobi Crispin and Amber Merritt, giving Shelley Chaplin more scoring opportunities. Mexico scored twice; but, Australia responded each time, with goals by Amber Merritt and Amanda Carter, who was fouled, making her's a three-point play. A steal led to a runaway break by Amber Merritt, bringing her contribution to ten points, and the score to 38 points to 16.

Mexico seemed unable to shake a pattern of turnovers and hasty shots, resulting in a 44 to 20 points difference at the half-time break.

In the third quarter, the Glider's intensity dropped off; A timeout, and a series of missed shots by Katie Hill, Brodie Kean and Cobi Crispin, gave Mexico a chance to stage a minor recovery by outscoring Australia for the quarter by one point, leaving the score at 50 to 27 at the end of the third quarter.

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