UA Wheelchair Basketball Team Takes Third at Nationals

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team finished third overall at the 2007 Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball Championships held in Warm Springs, Ga., March 1-4.

The UA team has advanced to the final four for the second time in the past two years.

UA won their first game of the tournament by overwhelming a young New Jersey Liberty team 72-12. The Tide bench played most of the game and had four players score in double figures. Desiree Miller had 12 points along with Erica Moyers, Anna Kleen and Christina Davidson who chipped in 10 points each for the Tide.

The Tide won their second game of the tournament with intense full-court defense over the Dallas Lady Mavericks by a score of 60-30. All Tournament Team selection Stephanie Wheeler led the Tide with 14 points, followed by Desiree Miller and Alana Nichols with 12 points each.

UA lost the next two games of the tournament by a total of eight points. The Tide came close to the eventual champion University of Illinois in a 40-43 loss, despite playing without Stephanie Wheeler the last eight minutes of the game. In the semi-finals, UA started slow and despite a comeback could not defeat the Phoenix Mercury and lost the game by a score of 54-59. All Tournament Team selection Karla Tritten led the Tide against Illinois with 18 points and Stephanie Wheeler led UA against the Mercury by scoring 20 points.

In the final game of the season, the Tide completed the season sweep of the University of Arizona by a score of 58-46. The win gave UA third place in the national tournament and was their fourth consecutive win over Arizona. UA led the entire first half and was paced in scoring by Karla Tritten with 23 points in shooting over 50 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line. Alana Nichols and Stephanie Wheeler scored 14 points each while applying a pressing defense the entire game.

UA finished the year with a record of 21-9 and a final national ranking of third.

For more information, please visit www.uads.ua.edu.