W-BASKETBALL WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Mustangs beat buzzer, eliminate Warriors from playoff contention
WATERLOO, Ont. – Mackenzie Puklicz's three-pointer at the buzzer sealed both the game and a playoff spot for the Western Mustangs women's basketball team, as they beat the Waterloo Warriors 75-72 at the PAC Complex Saturday afternoon.
Saturday, February 21
Western 75 @ Waterloo 72
WATERLOO, Ont. – Mackenzie Puklicz's three-pointer at the buzzer sealed both the game and a playoff spot for the Western Mustangs women's basketball team, as they beat the Waterloo Warriors 75-72 at the PAC Complex Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Mustangs finish the OUA regular season at 7-13 on the season good for the third spot in the West division. The Warriors' loss has them finishing at 5-15 on the season and in fourth place in the same group.
Coming into the game, only a Waterloo victory by more than 10 points could have shut the Mustangs out of the preliminary round of the OUA Playoffs. And the Warriors tried their best to make that happen, by staging a fourth quarter comeback that saw them outscore the Mustangs 26-20. Luckily for Western, the large gap they created early in the game would help them hold on.
Puklicz secured a double double in the game, leading scorers with 24 points while adding on 10 rebounds. Caroline Wolynski followed with 20 points and six rebounds, and Maddy Horst kept pace with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Ball movement was in the Mustangs repertoire right from the start when Puklicz found Meredith McLeod on the outside for a good three in the first minutes of the game. The team would go on to run up six assists in the first quarter alone while playing an effective zone coverage to keep the Warriors at bay. But the home team figured it out soon enough with Amy Jarvis and Emily Wilk putting up back to back jumpers to eat away at the Mustang lead. Horst's deep shot at the end of the quarter,though, would give the Mustangs a 19-13 lead and a bit of breathing room.
The Mustangs went right to work in the second quarter when Puklicz picked up Marti Killeen's bad jumper and helped herself to an easy bucket in the first minute. On a play soon after, she kicked the ball out to Sam Loucks who saw Horst making a run up the middle to the basket. Loucks' pass and Horst's subsequent layup were good, and another example of the Mustangs ability to work together to make up plays. Though Waterloo started putting pressure on as the half came to a close, the Mustangs would go into the break with a 42-29 lead.
That defensive pressure from the Warriors came back even stronger in the third quarter, though, as they limited the Mustangs to just 13 points. On top of the defense, Waterloo put together a 10-2 run in the last three minutes of the frame, though still trailed by nine at 55-46.
Trouble started brewing in the fourth for the Mustangs when Waterloo grabbed the first four points of the set to take them within five. But Wolynski and Horst would keep up, as they responded to each Warrior basket behind the support of a raucous Western fanbase visiting in the stands. After a few missed responses, Victoria Heine fouled Madison Behr with four minutes left to play for her fifth personal. As Heine exited the game, Behr made both her free throw shots to tie things up at 61 each.
Wolynski and Horst made a couple of jump shots to keep pace, but the Warriors did not give up. They went on a two minute 10-1 run to take a 71-66 lead with just over a minute left in the game. The Mustangs were just five points away from seeing their playoff hopes dashed. That's when Puklicz stepped up with a jumper to cut back into the lead. With 43 seconds left to play, Waterloo could only hope to run up their fouls on the Mustangs to walk away winners.
Running into bonus territory, Puklicz was fouled and drained two from the line to cut Waterloo's lead to two. Laura Burnett tried to respond with a three, but missed the shot. Grabbing the rebound, Horst started making her way down the court when she was fouled. She made both of her free shots to tie the game up at 72 a piece with 17 seconds on the clock.
With just 10 second remaining, Killeen ran the ball down the court for the Warriors, stepped back and put up a rushed three-point attempt that went short of the basket and bounced out of bounds. It was Western ball with four seconds left in the game.
A Mustang time out brought the ball down to their offensive zone. Puklicz was given the inbound and set herself up outside the three-point line in the corner. When the last second wiped away from the clock, she threw up a shot, the ball just leaving her fingertips as the buzzer sounded. The ball would go down smoothly through the net as she threw her arms in the air, leaving herself open to be swarmed by her teammates. Her three-pointer led to a 75-72 Mustangs victory, and closed out the regular season in dramatic fashion.
Source: Western Mustangs
Algoma 43 @ McMaster 78
The McMaster women's basketball team will head into the OUA playoffs feeling good, after a 78-43 win over the Algoma Thunderbirds on Saturday afternoon in Hamilton.
Still dressing only eight players due to various injury woes, McMaster matched up with an Algoma squad in even more dire straits, as the Thunderbirds had only six healthy bodies in uniform.
Algoma scored the first hoop of the game, but the rest of the contest was pretty much controlled by the Marauders. Rookie guard Hilary Hanaka had her shooting eye in focus in the first quarter, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc as McMaster grabbed a 24-11 lead after 10 minutes.
The second quarter saw Danielle Boiago heat up and she knocked down two treys as the Maroon lead kept growing. Algoma called timeout after Mac had doubled up on the T-Birds 36-18. The margin at halftime stayed at 18 with McMaster in control 39-21.
Boiago knocked down two more three-pointers in the third quarter, and tied her own McMaster single season record of 44 treys in OUA competition. After 30 minutes the Marauders were comfortably in front 64-32.
Facing such a depleted opponent, McMaster coach Theresa Burns gave lots of playing time to all eight of her players, and every Marauder in uniform was able to hit the scoresheet.
McMaster had all five starters in double figures, led by Boiago with 20, Hanaka with 15, Rachael Holmes with 13, Siobhan Manning with 12 and Ally Schweitzer with 10. Top shooter for Algoma was Laura Meadows with 16.
After the game McMaster honoured graduating senior Isabel Ormond, who despite missing the entire season due to injury, has been a tremendous leader on the Marauder squad.
McMaster finished OUA play with a 15 and 4 record, but will not know its playoff seed until all the RPI results are calculated on the completion of all league games. The Marauders will be at home to open the playoffs, with date and opponent to be determined.
Source: McMaster Marauders
Nipissing 34 @ Carleton 81
The Carleton Ravens (9-10) had no trouble with the Nipissing Lakers (0-19) in the final game of the 2014-2015 regular season.
It was a slow start to the first before Elizabeth Leblanc opened the scoring with back-to-back buckets inside. After opening up a 6-2 lead the Lakers quickly went to a zone press, trying to pressure the Ravens into turnovers.
Though the zone showed some success early, Carleton quickly began breaking it consistently. Once the Ravens had the ball in the half court their height differential in the post was near impossible for Nipissing to make up for.
Leblanc and Heather Lindsay both had 6 points inside as the Ravens pulled out to a 16-4 first quarter lead. The Lakers could get nothing to fall, going 1-15 from the floor in the quarter.
The teams traded baskets early in the second, including a three from Steph Carr and another look inside from Lindsay. Down 16 points, Claire Abbott hit a three plus-the-foul to cut the gap and gain some momentum for her team.
With renewed energy, Nipissing would find Maeve Therriault for a pair of threes in the quarter before an 8-0 Ravens run forced a Lakers timeout. As Carleton continued to dominate inside, the Lakers found themselves down 36-22 at halftime.
Lindsay paced Carleton with 14 points and 7 boards, while Leblanc (6 points, 6 rebounds), Carr (6 points, 2-2 from three), and Nicole Gilmore (6 points, 4 rebounds) all chipped in for the Ravens.
While Carleton shot 38% in the half, the Lakers could manage just 23% (though went 3-9 from downtown). Abbott provided the spark for Nipissing with 8 points and 4 boards at the break.
While the second quarter may have been even, it was all Carleton in the third. Thanks to a methodical half-court offense and the ability to generate steals – and transition buckets – the Ravens outscored the Lakers 24-6 in the frame (shooting 66.1% as a team). Carleton led 60-28 heading into the fourth.
With such a lead the Lakers simply couldn't overcome the gap. Carleton continued to control the pace in the final quarter as the Ravens cruised to an 81-34 victory.
Carleton finished 46.8% from the field (31.3% from three) while Nipissing hit just 19.1% from the field (15.8% from three). The Ravens also turned the ball over just 14 times, while creating 16 team assists. Thanks in large part to their height advantage, the Ravens also completely dominated the rebounding battle with a 60-33 advantage.
Lindsay led all scorers with a monster double-double of 24 points (10-18 from the floor) and 17 rebounds. Gilmore had an explosive second half, finishing with a double-double of her own for 16 points and 10 boards. Leblanc (13 points, 8 rebounds) and Carr (13 points, 3-5 from three) both finished in double-figures as well.
For Nipissing it was Abbott (12 points, 4 rebounds), Therriault (8 points, 4 rebounds), and Samantha Therrien (8 points) doing most of the scoring for a team that played just 7 players in the game.
Source: Carleton Ravens
Queen's 81 @ Toronto 65
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's basketball team dropped an 81-65 decision to the Queen's Gaels on Saturday night (Feb. 21) at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
With the loss, the Blues finish the regular season in third place in the OUA East with a 10-9 record, while the Gaels (11-8) finish second. The two teams await the OUA playoff schedule announcement, set to come out tomorrow (Sunday).
Fifth-year forward Liane Bailey led the Blues with 18 points, five boards and four assists, while Abena Addo added 13 points on the night. Julie Longauer added seven points, with Jill Stratton notching a team-high 11 boards in the loss.
Jenny Wright led the Gaels with 18 points, while both Liz Boag and Abby Dixon added 13 points and Priamo and Pearson had 10 in the victory.
NOTES: The Varsity Blues honoured graduating players Jasmine Lewin, Liane Bailey, Julie Longauer and Jill Stratton in a special post game ceremony.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Lakehead 67 @ Guelph 84
Guelph, ON – The Gryphons women's basketball team ended their 2014-2015 season on a high note with an 84-67 victory over Lakehead on Saturday night at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre.
The Gryphons were on fire from the start on Saturday night. Guelph poured in 27 points in the opening quarter to build up a 17 point lead after the opening 10 minutes and they would never look back. Fourth year guard Dana Van Balkom (Hamilton, ON) finished with a season-high 26 points on eight of 13 shooting (six of eight from three point land). Third year guard Katelyn Yallin (Port Colborne, ON) finished a perfect six of six from beyond the arc for 18 points off the bench. Thanks to those two, the Gryphons finished the night an impressive 12 of 21 from downtown (57%).
After the game, the Gryphons honoured a pair of graduating players Kayla Goodhoofd and Alyssa Shortt as part of the 'Senior Night' celebrations. Although the Gryphons finished with an identical 8-11 win-loss record with Brock, it is the Badgers who hold the head-to-head tiebreak and will be heading to the postseason. The top three teams in each division make the playoffs. The Gryphons finish the season fourth in the OUA Central Division with an 8-11 record.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
Laurentian 43 @ Ottawa 86
A complete shut down of Laurentian's offence by the Gee-Gees defence allowed uOttawa to record their sixth victory in a row and finish 14-5 on the season after a 86-43 win over the Voyageurs.
The Gee-Gees look on to play Carleton in the first round of the playoffs in a rematch with the team that eliminated uOttawa last season.
An even, aggressive start to the game saw the Gee-Gees' full court press working well to create pressure on the Laurentian guards and forcing them into turnovers. But Laurentian had success moving the ball and getting the Gee-Gees defenders to work.
The Gee-Gees started the second quarter on a 9-2 run. But Laurentian brought it to within four at halftime.
Laurentian guard Devenae Bryce was able to have her way early on, dribbling in close for high-percentage shots, putting up 13 points at the break. She seemed to be feeling the affects of an injury at halftime and only played six minutes in the second half and didn't find the basket again.
Back-to-back treys gave the Gee-Gees their largest lead of the game, 10, in the first minute of the second. That turned into a 32-7 run to put it out of reach with an entire quarter left to play. uOttawa allowed just 15 points in the second half and forced 24 turnovers on the night.
"Great second half. I think we were just shooting ourselves in the foot in the first half," said head coach Andy Sparks. "We were a little bit over aggressive, maybe a reflection of yesterday into today. A lot of reach fouls, not enough footwork. I think the intensity on the defensive end of the floor in the second half was absolutely the difference. We had a goal coming into this weekend that we'd try to be the best defensive team in the province. So I think now we've moved into first."
"Coach is really good at scouting other teams," said rookie Jen Crowe after the game. She finished with a career-high 16 points. "We worked really hard on our defence in practice. We try to know all the players on the other team and their strengths and weaknesses and put that into our defence."
Jen Stoqua continued her incredible three-point shooting weekend. She knocked down nine on the night to total 19 threes on the weekend.
"That's about as good a weekend anyone's had in the CIS," said Sparks. "Since the new line came in, three point shooting in the women's game has suffered. But it's incredible. She's a great shooter, we know that."
Top scorers for uOttawa were Stoqua with 28 points, Crowe with 16, Steph MacDonald with 14, and Kellie Ring with 10. Isabelle Dion had another great rebounding game pulling down 14.
After the game, with it being Shoot for the Cure night for uOttawa, Sparks shared with the crowd his own sister-in-law's battle with cancer and encouraged those in attendance to give whatever they can to the cause and thanked them for coming out and supporting the Shoot for the Cure.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gee
Friday, February 20
Lakehead 77 @ Guelph 73
Friday night at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre, the Gryphons women's basketball team was eliminated from the OUA playoffs after losing 77-73 to the Lakehead Thunderwolves. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 7-11 on the season, while Lakehead improves to 14-4. The two teams will meet again on Saturday night in the regular season finale for both teams.
The Gryphons came into the game needing to win each of their final two regular season games to grab the third and final playoff spot in the OUA's Central Division. Guelph got off to a good start on Friday, jumping out to an 18-10 lead after the opening quarter of play. Lakehead was able to cut into that deficit in the second quarter as the Gryphons held a slim 35-32 lead at the half. #9 Dana Van Balkom guards #4 Jylisa Williams Friday night in Guelph
The third quarter featured a milestone as Lakehead's fifth year guard Jylisa Williams (Atlanta, Georgia) broke the OUA single-season scoring record (she now has 521 points on the season – the previous record was 503). While the record belonged to Williams, the third quarter belonged to the Gryphons who outscored the Thunderwolves 21-15 to take a nine point lead into the fourth.
Unfortunately for this young Gryphons team, one of the themes of the season has been their inability to finish off opponents late in games. Friday night was no different. Lakehead would explode for 30 points in the final quarter. Lakehead held a slim three point lead late. The Gryphons would have the ball and a chance to tie it, but Haley Belyk's desperation, potential game-tying three point attempt would not fall. Lakehead would tack on one more free throw and go on to win it 77-73 the final.
Jylisa Williams, who came into the game averaging just over 29 points per game, finished with a game-high 31 points. Williams was 13-15 from the free throw line. As a team, the Thunderwolves were 20-29 from the charity stripe, while the Gryphons had just 14 free throw attempts. Kate MacTavish led the Gryphons with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Bridget Atkinson had 14 points, while Kate Yallin chipped in with 11 points off the bench.
The Gryphons and Thunderwolves will square off again on Saturday night as the Gryphons celebrate 'Senior Night' and honour their graduating players.
Nipissing 33 @ Ottawa 91
The uOttawa Gee-Gees had little trouble disposing of the winless Nipissing Lakers, improving their own record to 13-5 with one game left on the schedule. Graduating senior Jen Stoqua did what she's done all season and started firing it from beyond the arc early on. By the midway point of the second quarter she was already 6-for-8 from three. She continued to get open and hit shots, bettering her previous single game career-high of six. She broke the team record of seven threes early in the second half and finished with 10, the most in a single CIS game this season.
"I had no idea it was a record to break - it feels great," said Stoqua. "You always try and play to the best of your ability every game. When you're hot you just keep shooting."
With a 92-13 result in their previous meeting, many were expecting more of the same this time with the Gee-Gees possessing the conference's second-ranked defence. Thirteen was the winless Lakers' season-low point total to date but they have seen improvement as the season has gone on. Coming in, they had scored at least 40 points in five of their previous eight outings.
The Gee-Gees used the opportunity of playing a program in its infancy to really sharpen crucial aspects of their game. The Gee-Gees did well to share the ball and the scoring. All but one player had at least one assist on the night for a total of 28. Stoqua was the top scorer with 30 points, fellow senior Stephanie MacDonald added 19, while Kellie Ring came back off injury to contribute 10. Isabelle Dion was great on the glass, recording 12 rebounds.
"You've got to bring the energy from within," added Stoqua about the slow tempo of the game. "We typically get it from our defence. So when we bring it back to half court defence, it's about executing our plays just not giving up defensively at all."
"Hopefully this can lead into a good run for us in the playoffs," said Sparks. "So overall it was a real good night. Yeah, there were a fair number of things that broke down on us. We were a little passive, I thought, against a team we really could have been more aggressive on. At the same time, we really wanted to focus on the defensive end of the floor this weekend because we know it's going to be what's required in order to make a push here."
Following the final buzzer, Sparks took the mic to honour his team's two graduating seniors, Stoqua and MacDonald.
"It's special to have them. When you can get graduating students into your program like that it's great," said Sparks. "We have a history with those two girls. It's the end of all the high school players I coached along the way, so we'll miss them. It's been a great year."
With one regular season game remaining, Stoqua has amassed 169 points with the Gee-Gees and tied for the fourth most three-pointers in the country with 49 in 414 minutes on the court and 16 starts. MacDonald has lead the Gee-Gees in scoring in both of her two seasons with the Gee-Gees putting up a total of 537 regular season points, an average of 15 per game. Deceptively quick, she also recorded 86 steals with uOttawa.
"My time here has been fantastic," reflected Stoqua. "I told Coach Sparks back in 2009 that if we was coaching at any other school that I'd be there. I didn't like uOttawa at the time but that changed and it's been nothing but greatness here."
Laurentian 65 @ Carleton 62
Despite an impressive fourth quarter surge, the Carleton Ravens (8-10) could not complete the comeback over the Laurentian Voyageurs (8-10) losing by a final of 65-62.
Going just 8 players deep – both Lindsay Shotbolt and Lindsey Suprunchuk were not dressed – the Ravens relied on a zone defence for much of the game to slow it down and save their legs.
The first quarter was absolutely full of lead changes as both offenses were clicking early. The Ravens pulled out to a 5-2 lead in the first minute thanks to a three from Steph Carr.
Devenae Bryce had an answer though, as the fourth-year forward hit three straight buckets inside to give Laurentian an 8-5 advantage. More threes – another from Carr and one from backcourt mate Natasha Plaskacz – again gave Carleton a slim lead.
Carr would hit one more trey – she had 9 points shooting 3-3 from outside – but another pair of athletic plays inside by Bryce put the Voyageurs up 17-16 after the first.
The Ravens' efficient shooting continued in the second – the team hit 41.7% from the floor and 45.5% from range in the half – but Laurentian was able to build on their lead.
A 5-0 Voyageurs run to start the quarter would force a timeout from Ravens head coach Taffe Charles. With a pair of baskets from Abeer Farhat and Heather Lindsay, Carleton found themselves within two.
Bryce continued to threaten the Ravens zone with looks inside – she would pile up 17 points in the half on 7-13 from the floor. But the zone seemed to work on the rest of the team as the Voyageurs hit just 36.4% (2-12 from range). Late free-throws from Carleton kept them down just 31-27 at halftime.
Bryce led all scorers, but Carr provided the spark for the Ravens with 10 points. Plaskacz (4 points, 3 assists) and Elizabeth Leblanc (4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal) also made their presence felt.
Early in the third Heather Lindsay scored 7 straight points as Carleton re-took the lead 34-33. But then the Ravens went cold (shooting just 26.7% in the frame) as Laurentian put together a 12-2 run to go up 48-38 after three.
The teams traded baskets early in the fourth before Carleton began chipping away at the gap. A 7-0 run by the Ravens – capped with a steal, finish and foul in transition by Leblanc – cut the lead to just 4 points.
Leblanc (5 points in the quarter) and Carr (11 points in the quarter) were the aggressors for Carleton in the fourth, making hard moves and earning trips to the line. A pair of free-throws by Carr would tie the game at 60 before Bryce dropped a floater to regain the lead.
But a missed shot from the corner and an offensive foul in the dying seconds sunk the Ravens chances at completing the comeback. Final score: Laurentian 65 Carleton 62.
Bryce led all scorers with 27 points, going 12-23 from the floor. Point guard Danielle Harris would finish with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists, while Mary Scott chipped in with 12 points (all on threes).
For the Ravens, Carr finished with 21 points (including 6-7 from the charity stripe) and 7 rebounds. Leblanc earned a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) while Farhat and Lindsay had 9 points each.
Carleton now prepares for their final regular season game over the winless Nipissing Lakers. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 21 in the Ravens Nest, with a live stream available on OUA TV.
Queen's 62 @ Ryerson 72
The No. 7 Ryerson Rams women's basketball team will enter the postseason riding a 10-game winning streak following a 72-62 victory over the Queen's Gaels in the regular season finale on Friday evening at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Keneca Pingue-Giles (Winnipeg, Man.) had a team-high 18 points while Mariah Nunes (Ajax, Ont.) added 15 and Siki Jez (Kitchener, Ont.) posted a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds to lead the Rams to victory.
Both teams started the game at a fast pace which led to 37 points being scored in the first ten minutes of action. Ryerson's Annie Sokoloff (North Vancouver, B.C.) hit the last shot of the opening quarter to give the Rams a 19-18 edge after one.
After a number of lead changes throughout the second quarter, the Rams used a late 6-0 run to turn a 35-32 deficit into a 38-35 lead at halftime.
In the third, a jumper with 7:05 remaining by Jez gave the Rams a 40-39 lead and from that point forward Ryerson did not surrender the lead. The Rams outscored the Gaels by ten in the quarter which turned out to be a decisive frame. After thirty minutes the Rams led 59-46.
"I thought we found a collective effort defensively and we were able to get some stops," said head coach Carly Clarke on the team's third quarter. "We also executed a little more cleanly offensively and we got to where we expected to be on the floor and got some scores."
Queen's opened the final quarter on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit back down to six at 61-55 with 7:20 to play but the Rams steadied their play and pulled back to a double-digit advantage to seal the 72-62 win.
Liz Boag had a game-high 19 points while Marianne Alaire netted 12 and Emily Hazlett finished with 11 points in the losing effort for Queen's.
With the win the Rams secured a bye through the first round of the playoffs and will next play on Saturday, February 28.
"The fewer games you have to play to win is always to your advantage," joked Clarke. "We'll be looking forward to finding out who we have to prepare for but (we'll) focus on what we've been doing this whole time and stay geared up and ready to go."
The Rams finish the regular season with a 16-3 record, the best in program history. Queen's drops to 10-8 and will finish their season on Saturday against Toronto.