With high of 16 teams, NWBA Women’s Division Tournament shifts to pool play
With the largest field of 16 teams in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Women’s Division National Wheelchair Basketball Championship Series history, NWBA organizers decided that meant it was time for a bit of a change.
This year, instead of giving the top two teams or top team a bye and no consolation ladder to try to get back into the final, they decided to shake up the format this weekend at the Plassman Athletic Center at Turnstone in Fort Wayne, Ind.
This time around, the NWBA Women’s Division features pool play on Friday and part of Saturday, with four groups of teams in pools of four (Red, Blue, White and Gray). Each team plays each of its three pool opponents once, and the top two teams from each pool advance out of Friday’s pool play round into Saturday’s eight-team playoff.
Teams will be seeded for the playoffs with the No. 1 and No. 8 seeds meeting each other, along with No. 2 and No. 7, No. 3 and No. 6 and No. 4 and No. 5. The winners of the No.1/No. 8 and No. 4/No. 5 meet each other and No. 3/No. 6 and No. 2/No. 7 will meet in Saturday’s semifinals. Teams will be reseeded based on win-loss record and then point differential. The other eight teams will play in friendly games.
The third-place and championship games are set for Sunday. That means all women’s teams are guaranteed at least four games, with the two teams in the third-place and championship games playing six games.
NWBA Membership Services and Program Manager Erich Groezinger says they used the format they had designed for the NWBA Adult Division tournament’s 3-on-3 tournament two weeks ago in Glen Allen, Va. Additionally, they wanted to try something different.
“So, for both the Women’s and Military Division, a lot of these teams don’t get a chance to play each other during the season. And the typical bracket format that we do, like for adults and juniors, is the one loss and you’re in the losers bracket. So, you have no other recourse other than to play for, like, ninth position out of 16 teams,” says Groezinger, who’s in his first year with the NWBA. “With the group play, you play everybody in your group once, and the top two teams advance. So, one loss isn’t necessarily the end of your chances. So, just trying to give teams as much of a chance to prove their skills, and especially teams that are peaking towards the end of the season that may not have the best record gives them a better chance to display their skills and hopefully make the bracket play.”
Cincinnati Dragons player LaQuinta “Q” Haynes, though, liked the old format better. Her team lost its first game, 32-25, to the Virginia Vortex, but won its second game, 45-13, over the Memorial Rehab Lady Sharks on Friday afternoon. So, it’ll all come down to Saturday’s game against the Arizona Storm to see if the Dragons finish in the top two teams out of their group.
Haynes says she’d rather have the chance to win out of the consolation bracket to keep trying to claw their way back into the final.
“’Cause it gave you a chance to fight back in. So, I mean, my team lost the first one. We won the second one, but we had a loss. We play tomorrow. And what do I do Sunday? You know what I mean? I’m here until Sunday. If there’s nothing for me to do, I’m just waiting around until my team, my other teammates, leave, and then I can leave. But, OK, it kind of sucks. One game on Saturday, and that’s it. It’s a lot of driving and money to stay an extra day.”
The 38-year-old Columbus, Ohio, resident, is a left above-the-knee amputee after losing her leg to osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer, in 2016. She’s played wheelchair basketball for the past four years.
Haynes has had a busy month. Two weeks ago, she played for the Cap City Cardinals (based out of Columbus, Ohio) and helped them to a 12th-place finish at the NWBA Adult Division III Tournament in Glen Allen, Va. She has Cardinals teammate Terry Boyd to thank for getting her into the sport. She met him while he was working at a flea market years ago, and he wouldn’t give up on pushing her to get involved in a sport. So, she picked wheelchair basketball — and she loves it — especially the women’s division.
“I freaking love it,” Haynes says. “The women’s is more teaching. Like, it’s kindness, it’s joy. Everybody’s enjoying it. It’s not just we’re competing, but we’re having fun. All the time. That’s what actually makes me keep coming back —the fun part or just the camaraderie amongst the women.”
Meanwhile, Angel City Sports coach Alvin Malave says he could go either way on the new format.
“I don’t know yet,” he says. “Sixteen teams means it’s growing. For most people, it’s about getting the experience at the tournament.”
Malave, though, has some ideas to help grow the women’s division, such as putting on more regional camps and having some female Paralympians or all-time greats put on a clinic or camp to help grow the division, as well.
National Wheelchair Basketball Association Women’s Division Day 1
Pool Play
Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 73, Lakeshore Lightning 39
BlazeSports Lady Ballers 30, ParaSport Spokane 20
Arizona Storm 78, MRI Sharks 18
Virginia Vortex 32, Cincinnati Dragons 25
Mary Free Bed 35, Angel City Sports 22
WASA Marquette Eagles 50, BORP Bay Meteorites 10
LWSRA Hawks 61, Phoenix Mercury 22
PNW Reign 36, Adaptive Sports Ohio Cavs 28
Lakeshore Lighting 53, ParaSport Spokane 18
Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 45, BlazeSports Lady Ballers 17
Cincinnati Dragons 45, MRI Sharks 13
Arizona Storm 65, Virginia Vortex 20
WASA Marquette Eagles 56, Mary Free Bed 14
BORP Bay Meteorites 29, Angel City Sports 17
Phoenix Mercury 42, Adaptive Sports Ohio Cavs 34