Monday, November 20th, 2023.- The United States continued its strong pursuit of the gold medal in female's wheelchair basketball, defeating Peru 80-12 in their second appearance at the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games.

The North American team, the current Parapan American runners-up (losing the final to Canada at Lima 2019), had debuted by beating Chile with an even more convincing score of 96-10. In other words, in two games, they have scored 176 points and allowed only 22.

Meanwhile, the Peruvian team suffered its second consecutive defeat, following a 58-28 loss to Argentina in their tournament debut.

As expected, the United States was superior from start to finish today, with the most significant difference established in the first half, winning the first quarter 19-2 and the second 27-0. The last two quarters were more competitive: 16-6 in the third and 18-4 in the fourth.

The top scorer was the American Courtney Ryan with 14 points, while for Peru, Marleni Tunqui and Karina Torres scored 4 each.

"We have felt very good in these first games, but we take it step by step. Now comes Argentina, and then we will think about the semifinals and the fight for the gold medal," said the American Rebecca Murray.

On the other hand, the Peruvian Lucero García downplayed the tough defeat: "Five brand-new players, almost 40 percent of the team, and obviously, we have to keep growing."

Written by Patricio Hernández; translated by Pía Barriga Ferry / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Karin Pozo / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport