OUA Women's Basketball Roundup (Jan. 22)
January 17, 2018
McMaster 67 Windsor 63
Flying high with a four-game winning streak to their name, the McMaster Marauders women's basketball team took to the road to face the Windsor Lancers at the St. Denis Centre on Wednesday night.
McMaster extended their winning streak against the Lancers with a 67-63 victory in a battle of the two top teams from the OUA's West Division. The victory slides the Marauders past the Lancers for first place.
Veteran forward Linnaea Harper finished the game with a team-leading 20 points and six rebounds for the Marauders, while guard Hilary Hanaka excelled as well, scoring 17 points.
Emily Prevost led the Lancers in scoring, with 14 points while shooting 6-11 from the field.
Windsor finally found themselves in familiar territory in January, with Wednesday being their first game of the New Year at home.
The matchup saw the no. 7 Lancers and no. 8 Marauders clash in their final game of the season series. McMaster won the first game on January 3 at Burridge Gym with a convincing 64-52 decision.
In the first half, McMaster took the early lead for majority of the opening 20 minutes of play with the Lancers close on their heels. With 1:44 remaining in the second quarter, Windsor took a 28-26 lead, their first lead since opening up the scoring with a foul shot in the first quarter.
Windsor entered halftime with a 30-27 lead and spent the first few opening minutes of the third fending off the Marauders.
Leaning on the performance of Harper for the second straight game, the Marauders eventually took a 48-45 lead by the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter brought on a series of the dramatics in the closing minutes of the game as the Marauders tried to close out the game and win their fifth straight.
In position to potentially tie the game up, the Lancers found their newfound momentum swiped away from them after being called on the line. That was followed a few short moments later with the Marauders committing a five-second violation on an inbounds play, giving the ball back to the Lancers.
Strong defensive play by the Marauders led to a tough shot attempt by Windsor as the final seconds dwindled down.
The game was put away thanks to a heads-up play by Sarah Gates on an inbounds, as she came free up court and completed a layup with three seconds left, ultimately sealing the victory for the Marauders.
Source: marauders.ca
Guelph 58 Western 64
LONDON, Ont. - Fifth-year guard Mackenzie Puklicz put up a team-high 18 points to help lead the Western Mustangs to a 64-58 victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Wednesday evening at Alumni Hall.
"We really took those two losses to heart last weekend and we needed to give our players guidance and direction on where we go from there. Sometimes after losses you can get after your players and they'll respond, but after two bad losses, it's not about the X's and O's, it's not necessarily about working harder, it's about figuring out our cause for being in the program," said Mustangs' head coach Brian Cheng on his team's bounce-back win. "I think we hit the reset button and it opened our minds and hearts to reinvesting in the team."
"The thing we worked on the most throughout the week was just sharing the ball and moving quicker. We focused on getting easier looks at the basket and I definitely think that happened today," said Puklicz on the adjustments made coming into tonight. "We were just there for each other and we didn't give up after those losses last weekend."
With the win, the Mustangs improve to an 8-7 record on the season as they remain firmly in fourth place in the OUA West division. The Gryphons' loss will drop them to 6-9 on the season, they remain seated behind the purple and white in fifth place.
Both teams looked to attack the paint early in the first quarter, with Western holding the clear height advantage despite the loss of Victoria Heine due to injury. The Mustangs found success early through the offence of #Julia Curran and Mackenzie Puklicz, both of whom fought through contact in the paint to earn their way to the foul line. However, despite the consistent shooting, a scrappy Gryphons team would keep the game within reach as the purple and white headed into the second quarter with a 19-14 advantage.
The red-hot shooting quickly cooled off for Western to begin the quarter, but strong defence and good shot selection from Laura Graham would help get the Mustangs back on track. Yet, fatigue looked to play a factor midway through the quarter, as the Western offence became stagnant while turnovers began to pile up for the Mustangs, allowing the Gryphons to quickly cut into the lead as Western went into halftime facing a 28-27 deficit.
"It's a quicker turnaround from the Saturday game and it usually takes a couple days to feel better after, so a Wednesday game threw us off a bit as our first of the season at home. It was definitely different for us," said Puklicz on how fatigue effected the team's performance in the second frame.
The third quarter opened with Guelph attacking the paint while Curran did all she could to keep the Mustangs within striking distance. Horst's disruptive play on the defensive end of the floor was the fuel for her offence throughout the third, as her jump shot began to fall with regularity. Despite the strong play of Horst, porous defence from the purple and white would disallow a sustained Mustang run as Western went into the fourth down 49-45.
Western went back to feeding the post early in the fourth, an area they found success in throughout the opening frame while switching to a zone defence on the other end, hoping to throw off the opposing offence. The aggressive attack paid off early for the purple and white, as they regained a slim lead. Western continued to run a smooth offence through the midway point of the frame, breaking through Guelph's full-court press and finding easy baskets at the rim. The fast break would be the main source of offence for the purple and white for the remainder of the game, as Western simply outran Guelph on route to a 60-52 victory.
"Our goal is always to stick to the game plan, and that was the message going into the fourth quarter. We, as a coaching staff, are supposed to come up with the game plan and the tactical moves and the players are supposed to execute. When we adjusted, the players did a wonderful job of implementing the zone and limiting opportunities," said Cheng on the fourth quarter strategy. I thought we did a good job throughout the game, but those final moves were key."
Source: westernmustangs.ca
York 89 Ryerson 78
The York University Lions women's basketball team used the new TTC Line 1 subway extension to its fullest potential to get to Wednesday's game at the Mattamy Athletic Centre and then posted a big win over the Ryerson Rams by a score of 89-78.
The Lions featured a balanced scoring attack that saw six different players reach double digits. Leading the way to the net was Katrina Collins-Samuel, who scored 19 points. She was closely followed by Lindsay Shotbolt, who scored 17 points. Haley Bowie added 14 points off the bench, while Megan MacLeod and Chante Clarke had 12 points each and Lauren Golding scored 11.
Shotbolt recorded the most rebounds in the Lions squad with nine and Golding was right behind her with eight.
The Rams got off to an early lead, but the Lions managed to catch up and tie the score 20-20 by the end of the first quarter.
In the next two quarters, the Lions consistently outscored their opponents, scoring 21 points in the second and 23 in the third. By the end of the third, the Lions had established a 12-point lead and the score sat at 64-52.
The Rams went on a big run to start the fourth quarter and actually took the lead in the middle of the frame, but the Lions went on to score six straight points to reclaim the lead for good and they pulled ahead at the end for the big win.
This win brings up the Lions' season record to 7-8 and they are currently in fifth place in the OUA East Division with eight games remaining in the regular season.
On the Rams side of the court, scoring was led by Cara Tiemans and Sofia Paska, with both scoring 16 points. Paska, Bronwyn Williams and Jama Bin-Edward all tied for most rebounds at six each.
Source: yorkulions.ca
January 19, 2018
York 71 Toronto 66
The York University Lions women's basketball team trekked to downtown Toronto Friday night to take on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and picked up its second win of the week, defeating the Varsity Blues 71-66 at the Goldring Centre.
The Lions now have an 8-8 season record with four weeks remaining in the regular season, already three more wins than they amassed all of last year. They continue to hold onto fifth place in the OUA East Division and created some space between themselves and the sixth-place Varsity Blues, who are now 5-10, with the win.
The game did not begin in the Lions' favour. The Varsity Blues had a one-point lead on the Lions at the end of the first quarter, at 20-19. The Lions outscored them in the second quarter by two. At halftime, the Lions had a narrow lead of 34-33.
The Varsity Blues took back the lead in the third quarter by adding 21 points to the Lions' 18 to lead 54-52. Refusing to give up, the Lions returned in the fourth with a strong defence that only allowed the Varsity Blues to add 12 points while continuing to sink another 19 points to win the game 71-66.
Katrina Collins-Samuels had her second big game of the week, putting up a game-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Lindsay Shotbolt, the team's scoring and rebounding leader, had another double-double with 20 points and 18 rebounds.
Keyira Parkes earned the most points for the Varsity Blues with 21. Sarah Bennett, Emily Piccini and Nada Radonjic all tied for most rebounds with seven each.
Source: yorkulions.ca
Waterloo 36 Lakehead 63
The Lakehead women’s basketball team (11-4) once again had a solid win tonight over
the Waterloo Warriors (1-14), 63-36, in the Thunderdome.
The Thunderwolves started the game with a 10-0 run, and held the lead after the first ten minutes, 18-11.
Lakehead maintained their intensity in the second quarter, continuing their full court pressure that caused the Warriors to turn the ball over. Lakehead held Waterloo to just 5 points in the second quarter that gave the Wolves a 36-16 lead at half time.
The Thunderwolves finished the first half with 11 total steals.
The Thunderwolves continued to push their lead in the second half to take a convincing victory of 63-36.
“We had a good start and carried that through most of the game. Waterloo made it tough on us to score at times and matched our efforts on the boards. I am looking for us to put ourselves in better position to rebound and to be more aggressive on the offensive end driving the ball,” said Coach Jon Kreiner after the game.
Leashja Grant dominated in the paint with 25 points alongside Lily Gruber-Schulz who had 10 points, 9 rebounds. Jerika Baldin continues to pass the ball well with 11 assists tonight.
Source: thunderwolves.ca
Algoma 50 Laurier 67
WATERLOO, Ont. (January 20, 2018) – On Friday evening, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women’s basketball team put on a show as they shot the lights out from the field and earned a 67-50 victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds.
Laurier entered the contest having ended up on the wrong end of their previous four games, but against the Thunderbirds, they looked like a different team. A primary issue throughout their losing streak was a lack of efficiency from three-point range, with the team shooting under 20 percent from beyond the arc in every game. On Friday however, the Hawks were on fire from distance as they converted on 8 of 21 attempts from deep, shooting a clip of 38.1 percent.
Four of those three-pointers belonged to Welland native Sarah Dillon, who finished with 13 points coming off of the bench. The Hawks leading scorer was Nicole Morrison (Hamilton, Ont.) as she produced 17 points and added two threes of her own. The fifth-year guard also dished out a game-high seven assists.
For the season, Morrison has now scored exactly 300 points, becoming just the third player in school history to accomplish the feat twice. She also eclipsed 300 points when she finished the 2015-16 season with 312.
For Algoma, the Thunderbirds were led offensively by Marlee Ball (Waterdown, Ont.) and Karina Cole (Lincoln, Mi.). The pair combined to score almost half of the team’s points as Ball had 12 and Cole picked up 11. The latter also led the team in assists with four.
Compared to the opposition, the Thunderbirds struggled from three-point distance, shooting at a clip of 20.7 percent. Laurier also won the overall field-goal percentage, shooting an impressive 41 percent from the floor compared to 29 percent by Algoma.
Source: laurierathletics.com
Brock 44 Guelph 76
GUELPH, Ont. – Friday night at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphons women's basketball team rolled to a 32-point win on their home court versus a short-handed Brock team. The Gryphons dominated at both ends of the court, leading by 19 at the half and by 31 heading to the fourth. The Badgers, who entered the game riddled by injuries, dressed just seven players and were unable to match the Gryphons from the get-go. Fourth year guard Megan Brenkel led a balanced scoring attack for the Gryphons, pouring in 13 points off the bench. With the win, the Gryphs improve to 7-9 on the season while Brock falls to 5-10. The two teams will square off again on Wednesday night in St. Catharines.
"Our team defence tonight was outstanding," said Mark Walton, now in his second season as head coach of the U of G women's basketball program. "They (Brock) didn't get their first bucket until the three-minute mark of the opening quarter. Holding them to 16 points in the opening half was pretty impressive. The 'D' was great, and it was also nice to see us knock down some shots at the other end as well."
The Gryphons matched a season-high with seven made three-pointers, with the last time coming back on November 8 in a win over York. The 44-points allowed also matched a season-low for the Gryphons, who held the Nipissing Lakers to the same total in a 71-44 win back on November 25. Guelph held the Badgers to 26% shooting on the night (14-57) while forcing 22 turnovers leading to 23 points.
While Brock was forced to deal with a short-handed roster, the Gryphons were able to show off some of their depth with 37 of the team's 76 points coming from the bench. Aside from Brenkel's team-high 13 points, the Gryphons also received some solid contributions from reserves like Ashley White. The rookie centre from Cambridge chipped in with 7 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes of floor time.
The Badgers actually went from having seven players available to just six after a scary injury in the third quarter that saw Stephanie Findlay leave the game with an upper body injury that required stitches.
Source: gryphons.ca
Queen’s 71 Ryerson 65
TORONTO (January 19, 2018)- The No 9 Gaels (12-3) found their footing again and got a big win on the road against the Ryerson Rams (10-6) on Friday night in OUA women's basketball action.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels had a dominant opening quarter, outscoring the Rams 23-6. Veronika Lavergne (Ottawa) opened the game off a nice layup, followed shortly by a three-pointer from Marianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont.). The Gaels offence was off to a great start, and it combined with a strong opening defensive stand forcing four Rams turnovers.
The second quarter saw the Rams get back to life as the Gaels slowed down offensively. Lavergne got the first points for the Gaels, four minutes into the second quarter and the Rams were able to outscore the Gaels 13-8, thanks to consistent shooting and rebounding. Despite the slow down in the second, the Gaels rode their hot start to a 31-19 halftime lead.
The second half opened with a layup from Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.). Abby Dixon (North Vancouver, B.C.) continued to be a force for the Gaels as the veteran managed a steal, and took it to the other end for another layup. The Gaels began to shoot more consistently, and play better defence in the second half. Sophie de Goede (Victoria) had a strong defensive quarter, recording a steal and a block, with two rebounds coming off the bench. Led by the scoring of Dixon, the Gaels were able to keep their lead, 50-39 as they looked to close it out in the fourth.
The final quarter opened with a second-chance layup from Lavergne who played a key role all night in getting the offence started. The Rams were beginning to mount a comeback over the Gaels however as they looked to chip away at the Queen's lead. The Rams played better defence, not allowing good shot opportunities, and were able to grab missed shots for second-chance points. Ryerson was able to close the gap to just two points, after a nine-point run, with seven of those points coming from free throws. The Rams could not complete the comeback, as the Gaels began to attack the paint and get their own free throw opportunities. The Gaels walked away with the win in the end, 71-65.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Nipissing 50 Ottawa 62
On Friday night at Montpetit Hall, the Gee-Gees women’s basketball team earned their seventh consecutive win with a 62-50 win over the Nipissing Lakers.
The Gee-Gees opened the first frame with some intense defence, on the offensive end they jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead. Nipissing did not secure their first points until almost halfway through the opening quarter.
Once the Lakers got in their rhythm, the game’s intensity skyrocketed. First-year Gee-Gees guard Maia Timmons hit four three-pointers in the first half, singlehandedly getting in a shootout with the Lakers, who hit five threes.
Just before the half, a Gee-Gees surge transformed a 29-29 tie game, into a 36-29 lead for Ottawa. After the break, more hot shooting kept the Gee-Gees rolling, with second-year guard Amélie Hachey catching fire, the Gee-Gees were able to establish a comfortable lead into the final frame.
Some scrappy back and forth play in the fourth quarter saw Nipissing hang around in the game as the Gee-Gees tried to put it out of reach. A final push in the last two minutes of the game allowed the Gee-Gees to keep their winning streak alive.
Hachey led the team with 17 points with five three-pointers, she also tallied 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists. Timmons also hit on five threes, finishing with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and two steals.
“Amélie and Maia hit enough shots for us to be successful,” said Gee-Gees head coach Andy Sparks. “We had no post game tonight whatsoever, not having Brigitte hurts. Nipissing deserves full credit for battling us tonight.”
With her seventh 10 plus point game in her rookie season, Timmons’ scoring prowess is impressive to start her Gee-Gees career.
“Amélie and I have been really trusting our shot and I think we’ve been struggling a bit defensively so our team has had to pick it up for us,” said Timmons. “We’ve had a big improvement since the break, but we’re still learning how to play with each other. As a team, our defence has been strong, so we need to work on staying in our offence.”
Source: geegees.ca
Laurentian 36 Carleton 89
OTTAWA, ON – A tepid start couldn’t mask the offensive outburst that characterized the final three quarters of play at the Ravens’ Nest on Friday night. Carleton owned a seven-point lead after the opening 10 minutes, but proceeded to pour in another 74 points over the next three frames to beat the Laurentian Voyageurs 89-36.
Fifth-year center Heather Lindsay (Ottawa, ON) rebounded from a quiet night last week versus York University with a 23-point outburst that saw the hometown product collect 12 rebounds to go along with two steals and two blocks.
“We just wanted to focus on exploiting our matchups. We had some mismatches down low. They have a smaller team, so we looked to flow through that and we were able to make it count,” Lindsay said.
GAME FLOW:
The mismatch in favour of the Ravens in the post was evident from the game’s onset. Lindsay scored Carleton’s first eight points in the interior before a three-pointer by point guard Jenjen Abella (Hamilton, ON) capped off an 11-0 run to open the game. L’Ashante Henry converted an and-one layup to help bring the Voyageurs to within five, but a layup by forward Elizabeth Leblanc (London, ON) helped the Ravens enter the second leading 15-8.
After surrendering a double-digit lead in the first quarter, head coach Taffe Charles’ team came out in the second with a point to prove. The Ravens outscored the Voyageurs 32-6 as part of a second quarter drubbing that saw seven different Carleton players score in support of a 47-14 lead at the half.
The floodgates remained open in the third quarter. Lindsay picked up where she left in the first half by scoring the Ravens’ first five points of the quarter. Freshman forward Emma Kiesekamp (Merrickville, ON) played nine minutes on the night and scored five points, three of which coming via a nice bounce pass from Leblanc, who found Kiesekamp alone on the inside for an easy layup that drew a foul from Sydney Graper. Kiesekamp converted the free throw to give Carleton a 64-19 lead with 3:44 left in the frame. The third quarter buzzer sounded with the lead standing firmly north of 50 points as Carleton entered the fourth up 75-23.
The final 10 minutes played host to a more tightly contested affair that didn’t speak to the overall trend of the game. Henry, Laurentian’s leading scorer this season and in the game, scored seven of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, but with the game well in hand, Carleton secured an eventual 89-36 victory.
The Ravens await the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night, who will enter the Ravens’ Nest with a 2-12 record. Carleton boosts its undefeated record to 15-0, but Lindsay said that team isn’t done improving in advance of the final stretch of the regular season.
“We have a lot to work on. This was our first good game of the new year we think. We just want to focus on defence and finding the open man,” Lindsay said.
Source: goravens.ca
January 20, 2018
Algoma 48 Laurier 75
WATERLOO, Ont. (January 21, 2018) - On Saturday afternoon, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women’s basketball team took care of business in the back-end of their doubleheader matchup against the Algoma Thunderbirds as they rode a 31-point performance from Nicole Morrison to secure a 75-48 victory.
A close first quarter that featured the Hawks outscoring the Thunderbirds 12-10 was not indicative of how the rest of the game played out. Instead, the Hawks overwhelmed their counterparts in the final three quarters, outscoring the Thunderbirds 63-38 during that stretch, highlighted by a 29-15 outburst in the second quarter.
It was another incredible performance by Nicole Morrison (Hamilton, Ont.). The fifth-year guard filled out the stats sheet with 31 points, six steals, five assists and four rebounds. With her 31-point output, Laurier’s third all-time leading scorer surpassed her previous single season scoring record, moving to 331 points on the year, well ahead of her 312 points from 2015-16 with eight games still to play.
The all-time single season record for the Golden Hawks is held by former great Meghan McGrath who scored 425 points all the way back in 2005-06.
In a supporting role, Brianna Iannazzo was a key contributor coming off of the bench for Laurier. The second-year Thornhill native produced 14 points, including two made threes. On the other end, Algoma, guard Karla Fracalanza (Sarnia, Ont.) was the only player who reached double-digits in points for the Thunderbirds. The combo guard finished with 13 points, nine of those coming from beyond the three-point arc.
The Hawks had a sizeable advantage in the turnover category. The Thunderbirds committed 23 giveaways to which the Hawks repeatedly took advantage, scoring several baskets in transition. On the other end, the Hawks turned it over 12 times.
With the win, Laurier improves to 8-8 on the year, and moves into a tie with Wester for fourth place in the OUA West. Algoma now have a record of 2-14, holding on to the second last spot in the division standings.
Source: laurierathletics.com
McMaster 83 Western 80
McMaster was back in action as they continued their tour of southwestern Ontario in London, taking on the Western Mustangs in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon.
In a high-energy matchup between the two squads, the Marauders managed to see off the challenge of the Mustangs and win their sixth straight game with a narrow 83-80 victory.
With the win, McMaster kept up their pressure at the top of the OUA West, moving to 12-4 and taking temporary control of first place with fellow four-loss teams Windsor and Lakehead to play games Saturday night.
Olivia Wilson worked the paint to perfection against the Mustangs, finishing the game with 18 points while shooting 5-9 from the field. She frequently capitalized on opportunities from the foul line, as she shot 89 per cent on five trips to the line.
The Marauders entered the game on a five-game winning streak, with their last loss dating back to December 2, 2017, when they came up just short against the Ottawa Gee-Gees in a 48-45 loss at home.
A closely-played beginning to the afternoon saw the Mustangs taking a narrow 19-18 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Content to fire away from beyond the arc in the second quarter, the Mustangs were perhaps guilty of playing to the Marauders strengths, and hit only two of 11 attempts from three, falling behind at the halftime break as a result.
With some halftime adjustments, the Mustangs applied more pressure on the Marauders, picking up turnover after turnover and leading to the Mustangs narrowing the gap and eventually taking the lead halfway through the third quarter.
However, McMaster was successful in drawing Western into foul trouble, entering the bonus with five minutes to play in the quarter. The visitors made good on those free attempts, and finished the game shooting 14-20 from the line.
Entering the fourth quarter, Western held onto a narrow 55-53 lead, but the Marauders were quick to act as the quarter began, and built an eight-point lead at 80-72.
The Mustangs battled back and tied the game at 80 with less than a minute to go, but that run was short-lived, as the Mustangs broke down on the defensive end, leaving Jelena Mamic wide open for a three-point dagger that restored the Marauders lead at 83-80.
UP NEXT: The Marauders will be back in action on Wednesday, January 24, against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. That game is set to be an early-riser with tip-off scheduled to be at 11:00 a.m. at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. It will be the third straight road game for McMaster, as they look to continue their undefeated streak in 2018.
Source: maurauders.ca
Windsor 68 Brock 52
The Windsor Lancer women's basketball team took to the court to take on the Brock Badgers on Saturday evening on the road. The Lancers started things off slow, while the Badgers bounced out to an early lead, but despite the lacklustre start, the Lancers came through in the end winning 68-52.
The victory keeps the Lancers in a three-way tie for first place in the west with the McMaster Marauders and Lakehead Thunderwolves.
GAME STATS
Nyamuoch Teny led all scorers with 25 points. For the Badgers, their offence was led by Baelie Campbell and her 20 points.
Both offenses had less than stellar days with the Lancers hitting on 35.4 per cent of their shots and Brock hitting on just 34.7 per cent.
The Lancers' Emily Prevost recorded a double-double pairing her 10 points with 16 rebounds. The Badgers' Courtney Mcpherson also got one, scoring 10 points and bringing in 14 boards.
GAME FLOW
The Lancers sputtered out of the gate in St. Catherine's as the Badgers capitalized on the Blue and Gold's slow start, establishing a small lead in the early going. With the Lancers offense in the rears and the Badgers' lead sustaining itself, the Lancers needed a spark. That spark came in the form of Teny who was the Lancers only consistent scoring option throughout the game. Despite their early offensive woes, the Lancers found themselves ahead 23-19 at the break.
Teny scored 25 points for the Lancers with 19 of them coming in the second half. The Lancers slowly but surely built up their lead as their two-point lead at half ballooned into a double-digit lead by the fourth quarter. With no answer for the masterful shooting of Teny, the Badgers fell to the Lancers 68-52.
Source: golancers.ca
Queen’s 74 Toronto 66
TORONTO (January 20, 2018) - The No 9. Queen's Gaels (13-3) go 2-0 on their Toronto road trip, as they pick up a big win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues (5-11) 74-66 on Saturday night in OUA women's basketball.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels opened the game shooting the ball excellently. The were selfless with the ball and found open teammates for open looks. Marianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont.) led the team in scoring this quarter with eight points, knocking down a pair of three-pointers. The Varsity Blues, could not keep up with one of the top scoring teams in the OUA, and trailed them at the end of the first quarter, 19-9.
Veronika Lavergne (Ottawa), who led the team last night in their victory over the Rams, opened the second quarter with a pair of jumpers. U of T began to slowly creep up on the Gaels this quarter, as they were able to get into an offensive rhythm. Despite this, the Tricolour were still able to knock down their own shots and keep the lead. Alarie again finished the quarter with another eight points. Maddie Morris (Seeley's Bay, Ont.) was the defensive anchor, racking up two steals this quarter. The Gaels held on to the lead at halftime, 43-34.
Queen's opened the third quarter allowing a 7-2 run, with their only points coming from a pair of free-throws by Lavergne. The Varsity Blues were able to close the gap to single digits, mid-way through the third, as the Gaels struggled to score. Sophie de Goede (Victoria) would snap their dry spell, by knocking down a pair of free-throws and getting a layup off her own steal. The steady hand of Alarie kept the Blues at bay, and the Gaels would end the quarter with an eight-point lead.
Lavergne opened the final quarter with a jumper, off of an assist by Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.). U of T were playing an excellent game on the boards, as they were able to knock-down several second-chance points. They were, again, able to cut the deficit to single digits, as the Gaels struggled offensively. The Gaels would not let their lead slip away, and got aggressive to close the game. The team rebound strong, got to the line for free-throws, and finished strong over the Blues. The Gaels walked away with the win, 74-66.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Waterloo 46 Lakehead 71
The Lakehead women’s basketball team (12-4) swept the Waterloo Warriors (1-15) tonight with a convincing 71-46 victory in the Thunderdome.
The Thunderwolves came out strong in the first quarter, holding the Warriors to 5 points followed by a 15-0 run. Lakehead continued to push the pace and along with strong ball movement and solid offense, the Wolves led 41-18 at halftime.
Bridget O’Reilly opened the third quarter with a big three but the Warriors came out with a new energy. Lakehead only outscored Waterloo by two (30-28) in the second half but the Warriors were unable to recover from the first, resulting in another win for the Thunderwolves.
“Tonight I thought we played a more complete game even though Waterloo scored more points. Waterloo played tough and with good energy in the second half but we brought good energy too. Rachel was artificial defensively, Bridget was hitting tonight, Leashja got back on the double-double track and Lily continues to quietly have a terrific sophomore season.” – Coach Jon Kreiner
Leashja Grant finished the night with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks. Bridget O’Reilly had 18 points, hitting 6 total threes and Lily Gruber-Schulz had 11 points.
The Thunderwolves are sitting at the top of the OUA West leaderboard along with McMaster and Windsor, who are both currently 12-4.
Source: thunderwolves.ca
Laurentian 59 Ottawa 67
The Gee-Gees closed out a home weekend with two wins after a 67-59 decision against the Laurentian Voyageurs at Montpetit Hall on Saturday.
A thunderous start for the Gee-Gees had them scoring 29 points in the first frame, Laurentian hit some shots early, but were unable to match Ottawa’s pace early. In the second quarter, the script flipped and it was the Voyageurs that were able to show off their scoring, while the Gee-Gees went scoreless from the field for the majority of the quarter.
A few late shots allowed the Gee-Gees to take a 33-26 lead into the half, despite only scoring four points in the second. A back and forth barrage of scoring through the third saw some life return to the Gee-Gees’ offence.
Offensive pressure provided by Amélie Hachey, Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu, and Jennifer Crowe helped quell a Laurentian attack that threatened their lead at some points throughout the third.
When the team needed it the most, the Gee-Gees were able to close out the game and secure their eighth consecutive win.
Lefebvre-Okankwu was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points and eight rebounds in her return after missing two games. Hachey continued her hot play as of late, scoring 15 points as well as pulling down six rebounds. Crowe’s nine points and nine rebounds were key in stabilizing the team’s lead through the second half.
“I try to do what I can by staying aggressive and running for every board,” said Crowe. “I think I come with some experience, because in the past we’ve been without our bigs and I’ve had to fill in.”
Crowe, in her fourth season, is one of the veterans on a very young Gee-Gees team that has turned a tough start to the season into a dominant push as of late.
“It was a learning curve, but I think people are just starting to get the gist of it all,” she said. “I’m not surprised that we’re playing the way we are, we have talent, and now we have the experience.”
Source: geegees.ca
Nipissing 44 Carleton 100
OTTAWA, ON – The Ravens put together perhaps their best game of the season as part of a 100-44 victory over the Nipissing Lakers who didn’t have an answer for Carleton’s offensive onslaught.
Fifth-year center Heather Lindsay (Ottawa, ON) posted her second straight double-double with a 16-point, 11 rebound performance on a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in an efficient 17 minutes of floor time.
“We were looking to push the ball and that’s what we’ve been working on the past few weeks. Coach Charles doesn’t want the ball to touch the ground, so we just tried to look forward, push in transition and try and get open shots,” said fifth-year guard Jenjen Abella (Hamilton, ON).
GAME FLOW:
The game opened with an up-tempo style of play that catered towards the Ravens’ approach on offence – establish a presence in the post and kick it out to the wings for an open shot when available. Carleton quickly built an 11-3 behind five early points from fourth-year guard Nicole Gilmore (Hamilton, ON). A three-pointer by Heidi Smith trimmed the early lead six to with 2:29 left in the first quarter, but it would be as close as the Lakers would get throughout the rest of the game as Carleton closed the quarter on a 12-2 run.
The lead continued to balloon in the second. Second-year guard Karyne Jolicoeur (Ottawa, ON) kicked things off with a corner three to push the score to 30-11. The Ravens kept their foot on the gas as six different Ravens scored in a frame that saw Carleton outscore Nipissing 28-10 to wage a lofty 55-21 lead heading into halftime.
“We had a lot of mismatches down low and we were trying to expose that with the three-pointer. Heather and Alyssa got some good looks. We’re just trying to shoot as much as we can,” said Abella.
The Lakers entered the game with a 2-12 record and struggled to mount the slightest semblance of a comeback in the second half. Carleton opened the quarter on an 11-0 run that culminated with a deep three by fifth-year guard Steph Carr (Stittsville, ON). Marla Corney hit a three of her own to stop the bleeding, but the temporary bandage couldn’t prevent another four three-pointers by the Ravens by the end of the quarter, including two more from Carr.
Carleton’s display of offensive firepower slowed in the final 10 minutes. A three-pointer by Gilmore from the wing pushed the lead beyond 50 points at 87-35 a minute into the quarter. Kylea Galipeau-Wilson scored five points in the fourth, including a nice and-one that saw the guard absorb contact on a difficult layup attempt in traffic before calmly hitting the free throw. Her seven points were a team-high and stood as the lone bright spot for Nipissing, who were unable to contain Carleton in the Ravens’ 100-44 victory.
Source: goravens.ca