Gustafson, young guns lead Arizona to NWBA Women’s Division title
The young guns delivered for the Arizona Storm.
Emilee Gustafson, Adrina Castro and Jah’kyra Daniels all found different ways to shine, as the No. 2-seeded Storm took down the top-seeded Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets, 61-43, in Sunday’s National Wheelchair Basketball Association Women’s Division championship game at the Plassman Athletic Center at Turnstone in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Gustafson scored a game-high 20 points and totaled a game-high nine rebounds, leading to the championship game MVP golden ball. She scored six points in the first quarter, which helped lift her spirits after a rough Saturday semifinal game. This game, she was more aggressive with her play.
“I needed to get fired up. I didn’t have my best game yesterday. I was kind of out of it. I had pep talks from Courtney [Ryan] and Josie [Aslakson] and ‘Itty Bitty’ [Adrina Castro]. And they really helped me pull through for the second half of the last game. And today, we were just fired up and ready to take this win,” says Gustafson, who went 9-of-16 from the field. “We’ve been wanting it all season. This is my personal first championship ever. My first time ever wearing this [championship] shirt. So, that was a pretty awesome experience.”
A U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball Paralympian, Ryan had 17 points and eight rebounds and directed Arizona’s offense, but she had a bunch of extra help. Along with Gustafson’s breakout game, Castro had 10 points (on 5-of-8 shooting) and five rebounds and Daniels had eight points (all eight coming in the first half) and two rebounds.
Arizona kept Charlotte’s tallest player and leading scorer, Candice Law, from dominating inside with their new height additions of Daniels and Gustafson, keeping her from posting up down low and getting inside.
Law, who finished with team highs of 14 points and six rebounds, took just four shots in the first half (making two) and scored six points as the Storm built a 30-22 halftime lead. Charlotte got Law involved quickly to start the third period, as she scored the team’s first four points in the first minute of the quarter. She didn’t score again until 8 minutes and 57 seconds remained in the fourth quarter to trim her team’s deficit to 45-39.
That’s when Arizona put the gas on.
Over the final 7 minutes, the Storm closed the game on a 16-4 run. Ryan scored eight of those points, while Gustafson had four, Castro had two and Sarah Heinzl added her only two points. U.S. Paralympian Aslakson also added four points and three rebounds.
For Charlotte, U.S. Paralympian Lindsey Zurbrugg added 11 points and five rebounds, while U.S. Paralympians Brittany Gustafson (eight points and four rebounds) and Gail Gaeng Kalisz (seven points and one rebound) also led Charlotte. Caitlin Hynes had three points and three rebounds, as well. Charlotte had a rough shooting game, hitting just 19-of-50 field goals (38 percent) and went 4-of-8 (50%) from the free-throw line.
“This is probably our best game of the season, just the way that we carried ourselves and carried each other,” Emilee Gustafson says.
But it was an emotional and meaningful game for both Gustafsons. It marked the third time in her career that Emilee had played against her cousin, Brittany, with the other two times coming in a tournament this past winter.
“People were asking us off the court, like, if we go easy on each other or whatever. Like, on the floor when we play each other, it’s like we lock in. We don’t even think about the fact that we’re related. Like, we just we just make it happen and we play ball. And that’s exactly what we did. She [Brittany] shot so good today and it was so fun. She was aggressive. She was fouling me. Like, she texted me this morning and told me to play my heart out. And I was like, ‘I will, indeed.’ And I told her to do the same,” Emilee says. “So yeah, that was pretty awesome. And I’m just so glad she was here for it.”
Brittany says it was a tough and fun battle, too.
“I mean, deep down, like, I really just wanted to see her get another chance, get a championship because she hasn’t had one before. But I also really wanted it,” she says. “But I’m glad that she got it. I’m just so proud.”
For more championship game photos, visit adobe.ly/3RKVYfh.
National Wheelchair Basketball Association Women’s Division Tournament
Third-Place Game
No. 3 WASA Marquette Eagles 69, No. 5 Lakeshore Lightning 35
Championship
No. 2 Arizona Storm 61, No. 1 Charlotte Rollin ‘Hornets 43