A former member of the UNBC women’s basketball team dominated the world stage when it mattered the most.
Kady Dandeneau is back from the ParaPan Am Games in Lima, Peru where she helped guide Canada to a Gold Medal in Wheelchair Basketball with a performance worthy of the history books.
The 29-year-old became the first wheelchair basketball athlete in Canadian history to record a triple-double after a thrilling 67-64 victory over the United States.
Dandeneau recently caught up with MyPGNow.com who was quick to point to her teammates for helping her achieve the historic feat.
“As it cool as it is, that is a team effort I think and I just happened to be the player that got it.”
“The medal means a lot especially after I wasn’t able to play stand up basketball anymore after I got hurt and to be able to compete at a high level once again was pretty amazing.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call G O L D !!! ???67 – 64??? #Lima2019 #JugamosTodos @CDNParalympics @WCBballcanada pic.twitter.com/zdIngauB9H
— Sport Canada (@SportCanada_EN) August 31, 2019
Dandeneau played five seasons with the Timberwolves over a six-year span, unfortunately, a gruesome injury early on in her university career created a very trying path when it came to the sport of basketball.
“So, what happened was I got pushed from the back during a game when I was 19 playing for the Timberwolves and I came down trying to catch myself, planted my left leg and the rest of my body kept twisting. Essentially what happened after all the tests came back is that I tore my ACL, MCL, meniscus and femur fracture.”
“Eventually I got it all fixed but the damage I sustained did not allow me to keep the knee healthy and that’s basically how I got into wheelchair basketball with the hope of once again playing stand up basketball but I realized my knee just couldn’t handle it anymore.”
(Photo supplied by: Dave Holland/Canadian Paralympic Committee.)
After the final buzzer sounded, Dandeneau’s 25 points, 10 assists and 10 rebound performance propelled the Canadian women’s program to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
The former Timberwolf believes the hard work and dedication shown by her team is paying dividends at the right time.
“We’ve been together all summer, we’ve practiced every day, twice a day, lifting and getting extra shots off and it really was that culmination of hard work throughout this whole summer that makes it worth it.”
“This summer was a huge showcase of our team and our talent,” added Dandeneau. “We topped the United States who are the reigning Paralympic gold medalists and we also took down the current number one team in the Netherlands, they just won worlds last summer and all of us just really know what this team is capable of and we’re super excited for what’s going to happen next summer.”
Dandeneau suited up for UNBC from 2007 to 2013 where she earned many on-court accolades, which include being named to the BCCAA Women’s Basketball All-Rookie Team (2007-2008), BCCAA Women’s Basketball Provincial Tournament All-Star (2008-2009), BCCAA Women’s Basketball Second Team All-Star (2009-2010), along with another Second Team Tournament All-Star selection during the 2012 CCWA Women’s Basketball Championship.