The Australian women's national wheelchair basketball team, known as the Gliders, played in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.

The team of twelve included nine Paralympic veterans with fifteen Paralympic Games between them: Bridie Kean, Amanda Carter, Sarah Stewart, Tina McKenzie, Kylie Gauci, Katie Hill, Cobi Crispin, Clare Nott and Shelley Chaplin.

Carter returned to the Gliders' lineup after being sidelined by a crippling elbow injury at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney.

The Gliders faced a formidable task just to make the finals, as their pool included Brazil, Great Britain, Canada and the Netherlands.

After a narrow victory over Brazil, and an easier one against Great Britain, the Gliders were again defeated by Canada, but won their final match against the Netherlands to finish at the top of their pool.

The team of twelve included nine veterans with 15 Paralympic Games between them: Bridie Kean, Amanda Carter, Sarah Stewart, Tina McKenzie, Kylie Gauci, Katie Hill, Cobi Crispin, Clare Nott and Shelley Chaplin.

[2][3][4] British-born Merritt was originally a swimmer, but had been recruited into basketball by Paralympic Hall of Fame coach Frank Ponta.

[1] Canada had defeated them in the bronze medal game at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Birmingham in July 2010.

[1]Report:[9] The Gliders' first game was on 30 August in front of a crowd of 3,288 at the Basketball Arena in Olympic Park in Stratford, London;[10] a venue also known as "The Marshmallow".

A technical foul saw her straight back to the free-throw line to make it 48–43, the Gliders' biggest lead of the game.

[10] Source: Women's Wheelchair Basketball – Group A Preliminary – Australia vs Brazil – Statistics[13] Report:[14] The Gliders' next match was against Great Britain, and was held at the North Greenwich Arena, which could accommodate a larger crowd than the Marshmallow.

[15] Gary Peel, the British coach, "preparing to unleash his best impression of Sir Alex Ferguson's hairdryer on his beleaguered team",[19] was scathing about their performance.

"[19] Source: Women's Wheelchair Basketball – Group A Preliminary – Australia vs Great Britain – Statistics[20] Report:[21] The Gliders returned to the Marshmallow the next day for a match against Canada,[22] another team considered a strong chance for a medal,[23] in front of a capacity crowd of 7,200.

Strong defensive play by Nott and Gauci helped the Gliders reverse this in the second, and left Canada with only a one-point 33–32 lead at half time.

"That was a really tough game," he said, "and full credit to Canada, but we can't beat top teams in the world when we only shoot at 34%, that was the key statistic.

The Dutch team responded, but Gauci took two points with a fast break, and then assisted Crispin in putting Australia in the lead, one which the Gliders would not relinquish.

[32] Triscari praised both the Gliders and their opponents:We focused on stopping a lot of their big players, particularly Beijer, from getting into the keyway, and the girls did a sensational job.

[30]Source: Women's Wheelchair Basketball – Group A Preliminary – Netherlands vs Australia – Statistics[34] Report:[35]

As a result, the Gliders topped their pool, and received a quarterfinal berth against Mexico, which had managed to qualify despite only winning one game.

Another steal by Merritt led to a fast break, bringing her contribution to ten points, and the score to 38–16.

With nineteen seconds of play remaining, Hill took a two-point shot from inside the paint; attracting a foul, she scored another point from a free throw.

[38][40] Source: Women's Wheelchair Basketball – Quarterfinal – Australia vs Mexico – Statistics[39] Report:[41] In the semifinal, the Gliders had to beat the reigning champions, Team USA, in front of a small crowd of 4,428 at the North Greenwich Arena.

The second was rebounded by Team USA's Rebecca Murray, who took the ball down the court, in the face of the Gliders' relentless defence.

Team USA's Alana Nichols rebounded, and put the ball in the bucket, but not before time ran out and a shot clock violation was called.

[46] Source: Women's Wheelchair Basketball – Semifinal – Australia vs United States – Statistics[45] Report:[47] The Gliders would have to defeat Germany in front of a capacity crowd of 12,985 at the North Greenwich Arena to win the gold medal.

[48] Australia had narrowly defeated the German team 48–46 in the Gliders World Challenge in Sydney a few months earlier,[49] and at that point had beaten them three of the previous four times they had played.

A defensive rebound by Kean after Germany missed two free throws resulted in the Gliders scoring first, with Gauci assisting Crispin.

The Gliders used the same game plan that had defeated the United States, employing a strong defence against a normally high-scoring team.

All of the players, coaches and support staff have done a fantastic job and we can’t wait to greet them on their return home.

[57] "We have had the opportunity to play Germany a fair bit in our preparation so our game plan was to have strong defensive pressure and take it from there", Kean told the media.