The Australian women's national wheelchair basketball team, known as the Gliders, played in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The team of twelve included nine Paralympic veterans with fifteen Paralympic Games between them: Bridie Kean, Amanda Carter, Sarah Stewart, Tina McKenzie, Kylie Gauci, Katie Hill, Cobi Crispin, Clare Nott and Shelley Chaplin. There were three newcomers playing in their first Paralympics: Amber Merritt, Sarah Vinci and Leanne Del Toso. Carter returned to the Gliders' lineup after being sidelined by a crippling elbow injury at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. The Gliders had won silver in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, but had never won gold.

The first stage of the Paralympic competition was the group stage, a round-robin tournament. The Gliders faced a formidable task just to make the finals, as their pool included Brazil, Great Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. Canada had beaten the Gliders in 2010, and the Netherlands was rated as one of the competition's best teams. After a narrow victory over Brazil, and an easier one against Great Britain, the Gliders were again defeated by Canada, but won their final match against the Netherlands to finish at the top of their pool. The Gliders went on to win the quarterfinal against Mexico and the semifinal against the United States, but lost to Germany in the final, winning silver.

Background Prior to the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, the Australian women's national wheelchair basketball team, known as the Gliders, had won silver at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, and bronze at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, but had never won gold. The announcement of the membership of the Paralympic team was made on 5 July 2012. The team of twelve included nine veterans with 15 Paralympic Games between them: Bridie Kean, Amanda Carter, Sarah Stewart, Tina McKenzie, Kylie Gauci, Katie Hill, Cobi Crispin, Clare Nott and Shelley Chaplin. Amber Merritt, Sarah Vinci and Leanne Del Toso were newcomers competing at their first Paralympics. Kean, aged 25, was selected as their captain.

The oldest team member was Amanda Carter, aged 48, who was coming back for a fourth Paralympic games having competed in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, at which she had been sidelined by a crippling elbow injury. She returned to the Gliders' lineup in 2009. The youngest, who had not even been born when Carter had played in Barcelona, was 19-year-old Amber Merritt.Merritt was born in February 1993. See For the ages of the rest of the team, see British-born Merritt was originally a swimmer, but had been recruited into basketball by Paralympic Hall of Fame coach Frank Ponta. Merritt had averaged 20 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in the Gliders' World Challenge series against Japan, Germany and China in Sydney in July 2012, including a game against Germany in which she scored 21 points and eight rebounds. Another young player from whom much was hoped was Cobi Crispin, who had been named Australian Women's Wheelchair Basketball International Player of the Year in 2011, and had since posted impressive performances in the May 2012 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester and the Gliders World Challenge.

Source: Basketball Australia; International Games as at 29 August 2012 from Official Results Book, p. 4152.

Group stage

The first part of the competition was the group stage. The Gliders' pool included Brazil, Great Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. Canada had defeated them in the bronze medal game at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Birmingham in July 2010. The Gliders' head coach, John Triscari, admitted Canada and the Netherlands would be hard to beat:

Brazil Report:

The Gliders' first game was on 30 August in front of a crowd of 3,288 at the Basketball Arena in Olympic Park in Stratford, London; a venue also known as "The Marshmallow". The Gliders had not played Brazil in four years, and what little they knew about them came from watching videotapes.

The scores were tied fifteen times, and at no point were the Australians more than five points in front. With six minutes to go in the final quarter, the Gliders were up by only two points, with the score 45–43. Crispin was sent to the free-throw line where she extended her team's lead to 47–43. A technical foul saw her straight back to the free-throw line to make it 48–43, the Gliders' biggest lead of the game. Brazil then struck back, scoring five unanswered points to tie the score again at 48–48, but Merritt scored one from the paint to put the Gliders back in front. She followed by taking a defensive rebound and then another shot to make it 52–48. Brazil scored once more, but time ran out, and the Gliders won, 52–50. Leading scorers for the Gliders were Crispin with 18 points and Merritt with 16.

+ Women's wheelchair basketball – Group A preliminary – Australia vs Brazil No. Name Class Minutes Points 2 points 3 points Free throws Rebounds Assists Turnovers Steals Blocked shots Personal fouls Fouls drawn Made/Attempts % Made/Attempts % Made/Attempts % Offensive Defensive Total 4 Sarah Vinci 1.0 15:12 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Cobi Crispin 4.0 32:34 18 7/14 50 0/0 0 4/7 57 2 5 7 3 3 2 0 2 4 6 Bridie Kean (C) 4.0 14:53 2 1/2 50 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 5 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 7 Amanda Carter 1.0 05:39 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Tina McKenzie 3.0 0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Leanne Del Toso 3.5 01:46 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Clare Nott 1.0 35:04 6 3/6 50 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 3 4 3 3 0 0 0 0 11 Kylie Gauci 2.0 24:05 4 2/7 29 0/1 0 0/0 0 0 3 3 2 3 0 0 0 2 12 Shelley Chaplin 3.5 20:42 0 0/4 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 3 2 13 Sarah Stewart 3.0 07:21 2 1/2 50 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 14 Katie Hill 3.0 19:23 4 2/6 33 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 1 15 Amber Merritt 4.5 23:21 16 8/11 73 0/0 0 0/0 0 3 7 10 0 3 0 0 1 2 Team 2 3 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 Team totals 52 8 31 39 13 19 2 0 8 12

Source: Women's Wheelchair Basketball – Group A Preliminary – Australia vs Brazil – Statistics

Great Britain Report: The Gliders' next match was against Great Britain, and was held at the North Greenwich Arena, which could accommodate a larger crowd than the Marshmallow. A crowd of 5,331 saw a low-scoring affair.Official Results Book, p. 4148 The Gliders concentrated on defence, and led by only 11–5 at quarter time. By halftime, they had extended their lead to 25–11. The third quarter went badly for Team Great Britain, which only scored three more points to Australia's 14, making the score 39–14 at three-quarter time. The final quarter was Great Britain's best, but the score was still 51–24. Merritt and Crispin were again the Gliders' top scorers, with 10 and 8 points respectively, but they moved the ball around, and every Glider except McKenzie scored at least two points. Gary Peel, the British coach, "preparing to unleash his best impression of Sir Alex Ferguson's hairdryer on his beleaguered team", was scathing about their performance. "They know that's not the way we play", he said, "and I'm disappointed for the crowd and them because they are tons better than that. It was an absolutely disgraceful effort out there. It really was bad."

+ Women's wheelchair basketball – Group A preliminary – Australia vs Great Britain No. Name Class Minutes Points 2 points 3 points Free throws Rebounds Assists Turnovers Steals Blocked shots Personal fouls Fouls drawn Made/Attempts % Made/Attempts % Made/Attempts % Offensive Defensive Total 4 Sarah Vinci 1.0 25:30 4 2/4 50 0/0 0 0/0 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 0 3 0 5 Cobi Crispin 4.0 20:49 8 4/10 40 0/0 0 0/0 0 2 5 7 1 1 0 0 3 2 6 Bridie Kean (C) 4.0 20:42 4 2/4 50 0/0 0 0/2 0 1 5 6 0 0 1 0 0 2 7 Amanda Carter 1.0 13:28 2 1/2 50 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 8 Tina McKenzie 3.0 7:02 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 9 Leanne Del Toso 3.5 10:00 2 1/4 25 0/0 0 0/0 0 2 4 6 1 2 0 0 1 1 10 Clare Nott 1.0 23:25 6 3/6 50 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 2 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 11 Kylie Gauci 2.0 17:37 6 3/7 43 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 2 2 4 4 1 0 2 1 12 Shelley Chaplin 3.5 17:14 4 2/8 25 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 1 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 13 Sarah Stewart 3.0 9:45 3 1/5 20 0/0 0 1/4 25 3 1 4 3 0 0 0 2 2 14 Katie Hill 3.0 9:02 2 1/1 100 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 15 Amber Merritt 4.5 25:26 10 5/11 45 0/0 0 0/0 0 2 4 6 2 1 3 0 3 0 Team 1 7 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 Team totals 51 15 32 47 14 17 8 0 17 9

Source: Women's Wheelchair Basketball – Group A Preliminary – Australia vs Great Britain – Statistics

Canada Report:

The Gliders returned to the Marshmallow the next day for a match against Canada, another team considered a strong chance for a medal, in front of a capacity crowd of 7,200.Official Results Book, p. 4173 The Gliders squandered early opportunities, and Canada won the first quarter 20–12. Strong defensive play by Nott and Gauci helped the Gliders reverse this in the second, and left Canada with only a one-point 33–32 lead at half time. The second half saw Canada slowly increase their lead, keeping tied with Australia 4–4 in the first half of third, 6–4 in the last half of the third, 6–4 in the first half of the fourth, and 8–6 in the last half of the fourth. Australia's top players were Crispin, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds; Merritt, who earned 16 points; and Chaplin, with eight points, five rebounds and seven assists. The loss raised the prospect that Australia might not make the finals at all, but Crispin remained confident that they could.

Triscari identified the Gliders' poor shooting as their critical problem. "That was a really tough game," he said, "and full credit to Canada, but we can't beat top teams in the world when we only shoot at 34%, that was the key statistic." Merritt said that she had "the utmost respect for Canada. They're a great team, but we'll refocus on the game tomorrow and go out and play like we know we can, the Australian way."

+ Women's wheelchair basketball – Group A preliminary – Australia vs Canada No. Name Class Minutes Points 2 points 3 points Free throws Rebounds Assists Turnovers Steals Blocked shots Personal fouls Fouls drawn Made/Attempts % Made/Attempts % Made/Attempts % Offensive Defensive Total 4 Sarah Vinci 1.0 19:53 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 Cobi Crispin 4.0 29:43 12 5/13 38 0/0 0 2/3 67 4 11 15 3 3 0 0 5 3 6 Bridie Kean (C) 4.0 13:37 0 0/8 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 3 4 0 1 1 0 3 1 7 Amanda Carter 1.0 0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Tina McKenzie 3.0 0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Leanne Del Toso 3.5 0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Clare Nott 1.0 40:00 4 2/5 40 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 3 4 3 1 0 1 2 0 11 Kylie Gauci 2.0 20:07 6 3/9 33 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 12 Shelley Chaplin 3.5 31:08 8 4/14 29 0/0 0 0/0 0 1 4 5 7 1 0 0 2 0 13 Sarah Stewart 3.0 7:09 2 1/3 33 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 14 Katie Hill 3.0 12:58 2 1/3 33 0/0 0 0/0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 15 Amber Merritt 4.5 25:25 16 7/13 54 0/1 0 2/5 40 3 3 6 2 1 0 0 4 5 Team 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 Team totals 50 12 28 40 17 8 2 1 16 10

Source: Women's Wheelchair Basketball – Group A Preliminary – Australia vs Canada – Statistics

Netherlands Report:

The loss to Canada meant that the Gliders needed a win against the Netherlands, who were considered one of the competition's best teams, and who had beaten Canada. Crispin told the media that "We will go out like we have in every other game and stick to our game plan and hopefully we'll come out on top".