A one-point heartbreak at TD Place
Both teams had entered the final undefeated at 5-0 in the tournament, setting up a showdown between two of the sport's top programs.
How it slipped away
Canada led 27-20 after the first quarter and carried a 41-38 edge into halftime, controlling much of the game's early rhythm. But the Americans clawed back, building a 71-64 lead with more than three minutes left in regulation. Canada wasn't done: the team rallied to tie the game 76-76 with 39.1 seconds remaining. The comeback fell just short when Courtney Ryan of the United States made a free throw with 20.8 seconds on the clock, sealing the 77-76 American win.
Standout performances
Kady Dandeneau led Canada with 34 points on 15-for-34 shooting, adding 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Arinn Young added 30 points, including two three-pointers in the opening quarter. For the Americans, Lindsey Zurbrugg scored 26 points with 7 assists and 2 rebounds in the final.
Dandeneau takes the blame
Speaking after the loss, Dandeneau pointed to the foul that led to Ryan's decisive free throw. "It was my fault that we got that foul and it proved to be the difference," she said. She explained the sequence: "I was trying to help our teammate get a rebound, and we ended up with a foul... and that lost us the game."
Crowd gets credit
"The energy we can feed off of them is huge. I can't thank them enough," she said.
What the silver means
The result gives Canada its first medal at the wheelchair basketball world championships since 2014, when the women's team won gold in Toronto.
A big week for Ottawa
The gold-medal game capped the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships, which brought 336 athletes from 19 countries to Ottawa for the tournament. For a city that regularly hosts national and international sporting events, the tournament added another chapter to its resume as a host for high-level competition, and gave local fans a close-up look at some of the best wheelchair basketball talent in the world.
Sources: paNOW (Canadian Press), CP24, TSN
