Carrigill full of pride after quarter-final exit

Sophie Carrigill had only pride in her teammates as ParalympicsGB’s women’s wheelchair basketball team suffered a narrow 59-52 loss to the USA in the quarter-finals. 

GB kept within touching distance throughout much of the game but saw the USA build commanding leads at the end of the second and third quarters to make their task harder. 

However, with nine minutes of the match remaining, GB took the lead before losing their grip in the match in the dying seconds. 

“My overriding feeling right now is I’m just really proud of the girls, they work so hard for these moments,” Carrigill said.

“We delivered an amazing game and that is going to hurt for a long time, but you’ve got be ok with that hurting because that is why we play. 

“My overriding feeling is I was just really proud of our fight, we had a massive comeback, we were down 10 and went on to lead the game. 

“That is just incredible, the USA are a great team and consistent medallists at worlds and Paralympics. 

“A strong team and for us to deliver that kind of performance, I am really proud. But it will hurt for a while.” 

Jade Atkin made an impact from the start, scoring the first points of the game, but the rebounds of Becca Murray and Ixhelt Gonzalez were constant threat at both ends of the court. 

With the half-time break closing in, the USA scored six straight points to hold a seven-point advantage after the second quarter. 

The third quarter saw GB again pull themselves back into the contest, only for captain Murray to help stretch the lead out again for the US with two crucial rebounds. 

ParalympicsGB were not done yet with Atkin’s return to the court signalling the beginning of the fight back to close the deficit to just three points at with 10 minutes remaining. 

Great Britain then returned to the lead for the first time since the beginning of the match and held a one-point lead as they forced the USA into a shot clock violation. 

The two sides traded points and the lead as the clock ticked down before the USA showed their nouse to eke out the narrow win. 

And for Atkin, the defeat will serve as motivation for four years’ time and getting revenge on the US’s home court. 

She said: “I’ve had multiple injuries and I’ll say what I said then. My future for LA is to get to the point where we play these games and it is not even a close game. 

“This will be my motivation to get better and be better in LA. We’re coming for that gold.”