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Wheelchair basketball team wins national title


Published: Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, March 20, 2009 at 11:55 p.m.

DENVER | The University of Alabama women’s wheelchair basketball team defeated the University of Illinois 53-39 Friday to win its first-ever NWBA Women’s Division national championship.

Alabama was led by Janet McLachlan with 24 points and tournament MVP Stephanie Wheeler with 16 points.

Leading scorers for Illinois were Bridie Kean and Shawna Culp with 12 points each and Shelley Chaplin with 10 points.

Alabama rolled past Illinois 52-36 in the semifinals. Alabama held on to a slim 25-21 lead at the break, but easily pulled away in the second half to secure the 16-point win.

“Any time you’re able to beat a defending national champion, it feels good. We’re exactly where we want to be, but we’re not satisfied,” Wheeler said after the semifinal win. “We still have one more game to play in order to accomplish what we came here to do.”

Illinois defeated the Dallas Lady Mavericks to earn the right to face Alabama again in Friday’s championship game.


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