OTTAWA, ONT. (August 13, 2025) – TTeam Canada will compete for bronze at the 2025 IWBF Americas Cup after reaching the semifinals, falling 75-45 to the United States on Wednesday in Bogotá, Colombia.
The Senior Women’s National Team (SWNT) faces Argentina on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. EDT / 1:15 p.m. PDT.
“Thursday we’ll play in the bronze medal game, and I’m just looking forward to us showing what Canadian basketball is about,” said Arinn Young. “We’re going to come out hard, we’re going to come out physical because Wednesday’s result doesn’t show what we can do as a team.”
Young led the way for Canada with a triple-double, recording a game-high 26 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists against the Americans. Puisand Lai added 11 points and two rebounds, while Mercy Nyakundi contributed four points off the bench.
With five athletes making their SWNT debut at the Americas Cup, Wednesday’s matchup with the U.S. was a valuable learning experience, Young said.
“The semifinal game didn’t go as planned,” explained Young. “We want to be in the final. The States are challenging and competitive, and they have more experience than we do right now.
“It was good for our group to get this experience, to learn this fast-paced game. There’s a lot of good stuff to move forward with, lots of ideas on how to be better.”
The Americas Cup is a qualification tournament for the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships, which will take place in Ottawa, Ont., from Sept. 9–19, 2026.
In the women’s division, the top two teams will secure a direct berth to Ottawa 2026, while the third- and fourth-place finishers will advance to the Repechage Tournament. On the men’s side, the top three teams will qualify, with the fourth- and fifth-place teams advancing to the Repechage.
As the host nation, Canada has already qualified for the 2026 World Championships. The SWNT captured gold at the 2022 Americas Cup, in São Paulo, Brazil.
Complete statistics from Wednesday’s semifinals against the United States can be accessed here.
Select images from the 2025 IWBF Americas Cup are available through the IWBF here.
About Wheelchair Basketball Canada
Wheelchair Basketball Canada (WBC) is the national sports governing body responsible for the organization of the sport in Canada. It is a non-profit, charitable organization committed to excellence in developing, supporting, and promoting wheelchair basketball programs and services from grassroots to high performance for all Canadians. Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, competitive sport in which Canada is held in high esteem worldwide for winning six gold, one silver, and one bronze medal over the last nine Paralympic Games. WBC will host the 2026 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships from September 9-19, 2026.
For more information on WBC, please visit Wheelchairbasketball.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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Media contact:
Dhiren Mahiban
Communications & Digital Media Manager
Wheelchair Basketball Canada
C: 416-574-6682
dmahiban@wheelchairbasketball.ca