November 25, 2013
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Golden Hawks grab pair of key victories in the Capital
Friday, November 22
Waterloo 48 @ Ottawa 80
It wasn’t pretty but the Gee-Gees got it done against the Waterloo Warriors, taking Friday’s OUA crossover battle 80-48 and dropping the Warriors to 2-4.
Stephanie MacDonald continued her hot play out of the gate, scoring seven of the Gee-Gees’ first 13 points. She finished up with 26 points, one shy of her season-high total of 27. She was incredibly efficient again, shooting 73 per cent and averaging a point per minute on the court.
The Gee-Gees again played without starting guard Kellie Ring, although they didn’t miss her in this one. Senior Sarah van Hooydonk also sat out her third straight game. But, 6-foot-3 rookie Akpene Kwamie drew back into the lineup.
Coach Andy Sparks was able to spread the minutes around, getting every player out for at least nine minutes. “It was nice tonight to get girls in that don’t play quite as much. Some of them stepped up certainly,” said Sparks. “Julia (Soriano) and Steph (MacDonald) were real solid today, but wasn’t the best for some of the others. Overall, we’ll take it.”
“I thought we were a little bit passive at times tonight. They’re probably a lot better than they showed today but they seemed to be on their heels a little bit,” he said of his bench players. “Really the ones that have not been playing should be inspired to play. So that’s really what you try to get out of this one. There was some inconsistencies but there was also times where it looked pretty good out there. Just not 100 per cent there yet.”
As a crew, the Gee-Gees committed 17 turnovers on the night. “That’s way too many. There’s an example of where we’ve got to clean it up. It’ll come.”
Marti Killeen lead the Warriors’ offence but was held to just 13 points. Kristen Osborne added 10 points. Waterloo shot 34 per cent collectively and surrendered 45 total rebounds to the Gee-Gees on their offensive end. They came on a little in the second, improving their accuracy and scored 32 points in the second half, compared to just 16 in the first.
The Gee-Gees get back at it tomorrow night at 6 p.m. against the Laurier Golden Hawks. They hold an identical 6-1 record after a win over the Carleton Ravens in their Friday game.
Sparks and the Gee-Gees expect a much different game tomorrow. “It’s important to keep the intensity up no matter what or who you’re playing,” said Julia Soriano, who was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the first half, finishing with 14 points and five steals.
“I think we’ve definitely progressed since the start of the season. We’re more connected so the offence flows a lot more. But we’re going to bring the same intensity and hard work tomorrow that we brought today.”
Source: Ottawa Sports Info
Laurier 58 @ Carleton 49
It was a winged affair on Friday night at the Raven’s Nest.
The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks won the battle of the birds with a 58-49 victory over the Ravens in OUA women’s basketball action.
The Ravens (4-3-0) played well at times and held a 21-17 first quarter lead.
At halftime, Carleton was up 35-31 but then things started to unravel for the Ravens.
The Golden Hawks (6-1-0) outscored the Ravens in the last two quarters 27-14 for the win
“It’s unfortunate we (Carleton) didn’t bring our best effort against Laurier,” said Taffe Charles, Ravens head coach.
“Laurier deserved the win so I’m not really shocked with the result. We have to go back to the drawing board and be ready to play better against Waterloo on Saturday night.”
Elizabeth Roach (Ottawa, ON) led the Ravens with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line.
Lindsay Shotbolt (Markham, ON) chipped in with 9 points and 13 boards. McKenzie Sigurdson (Toronto, ON) had a 9 point game.
Source: Carleton Sports Info
McMaster 72 @ Queen’s 79
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 22, 2013) - The Queen's women's basketball team (4-3) stole away with an exciting 79-72 win over the McMaster Marauders (5-2) on Friday night at the Athletic and Recreation Centre.
The energy was high, the game was aggressive, and the victory was sweet. Queen's and McMaster were neck and neck for 40 minutes of action, trying to take home a much needed win. From the tip-off, the Marauders maintained full court man-to-man defense, challenging the Gaels to step up to their relentless defensive pressure. The Gaels were up to the challenge. With a better shooting percentage than the visiting team at the half way mark, they only trailed 39-36.
Hailey Milligan of McMaster, who had an impressive 25 points and 17 rebounds in the game, made it difficult for the Gaels to take the lead. Despite the dangerous tandem of Milligan and Danielle Boiago of the Mauraders, Queen's snagged the lead in the fourth. Clutch threes by Liz Boag (Kingston, Ont.) and Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) helped the Gaels outscore their opponent 30-18 in the final quarter. It was a great team win for an ever improving and maturing Queen's squad.
Boag finished with a team high 18 points, followed by Robyn Pearson (Toronto) who contributed 17 points and six boards.
Source: Queen’s Sports Info
Brock 66 @ York 34
The York University Lions women's basketball team was defeated by a score of 66-34 by the No. 10 nationally-ranked Brock Badgers at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Friday night (Nov. 22).
The Badgers controlled play throughout the contest, putting up at least 15 points in every quarter for the lopsided win. The Lions, meanwhile, reached 13 points only once. They drop to 1-6 with the loss, while the Badgers improved to 5-2.
Nadia Qahwash (Kitchener, Ont.) led the Lions in scoring with nine points in the game. She also had two rebounds and one assist. Llyandra Kerr (Markham, Ont.) finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Badgers had four different players reach double digits in scoring and two, Nicole Rosenkranz (Niagara Falls, Ont.) and Samantha DeJong (St. Catharines, Ont.), who put up double-doubles. Rosenkranz finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, while DeJong had 11 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and one block.
Their leading scorer was Andrea Polischuk (Brantford, Ont.) with 17 points, as well as nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Kayla Santilli (Brantford, Ont.) had 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Source: York Sports Info
Laurentian 53 @ Western 88
LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs continue to build the case for OUA superiority with a dominant schooling of the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs, 88-53 on Friday night at Alumni Hall.
With the win the Mustangs pushed their winning-streak to six games since their season-opening loss to Ottawa back on November 1.
Like a canoe set adrift, the Voyageurs lacked the focus and perseverance of their namesake, unable to overcome the early storm of the Mustangs' offence, led admirably by fifth-year veteran Jenny Vaughan.
18 first-half points from the captain allowed the Mustangs to race out to a 51-22 halftime lead, one that would never be challenged.
Vaughan finished with a game-high 24 points, including 9-for-11 from the charity stripe. The Voyageurs were led by forward Mary Scott with 14 points off the bench.
Fifth-year forward Melissa Rondinelli recorded a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Mustangs.
Not only did Western pound the paint for a 38-8 advantage but veteran guard Kelsey Wright and dynamic first-year Mackenzie Puklicz combined for 6-of-13 from three-point territory in the game.
Western head coach Brian Cheng was quick to emphasize the room for improvement, despite his team's early season success.
"We're trying to work on establishing our defence and rebounding. I thought our offence sputtered a little at the beginning – it was low scoring at first. I thought our defence did the job early and we just exploded like we can and we rallied around there."
And he's quick to shut-down any talk of win streaks until the team really proves itself; coach Cheng demands everything be kept in perspective
"We only won one game. We're 1-0 today and tomorrow we could be 0-1. We're as good as our last game."
Game by game, the Mustangs' offence seems to find new ways to improve. Low shooting percentages that previously permeated entire games this season have steadily improved since day one, becoming one of the strengths of this unit. Every woman on the floor gives the impression that they know exactly where they should be on any given play, with complete offensive breakdowns fewer and further in-between.
With their large lead cemented early, Cheng had the opportunity to try out many of his new recruits alongside his established veterans. For a sequence of plays in the first half, Vaughan led her underclassmen Puklicz, Victoria Heine, Abigail Kuhn and Louise Bunce in several minutes of needed playing-time. The continued development of the first-year talent will be a needed boost for the purple and ehite as they begin to size-up the potential of postseason play.
"There's a big discrepancy between our young forwards and our fifth-year forwards," said coach Cheng. "It's like school: it's like jumping from grade seven to grade twelve. The gap is a little bit closer – I think our posts can play. Our first-year players are working really hard and there's a lot of potential there."
Source: Western Sports Info
Algoma 25 @ Windsor 104
In their first ever meeting, the No. 2 ranked Lancer women's basketball team easily defeated the Algoma Thunderbirds 104-25 on Friday night at the St. Denis Centre.
With the win, the Lancers captured their 6th straight victory and are now 6-1 in the regular season and are tied for first place in the OUA west division with the Western Mustangs.
The Lancers built a big first half lead and cruised to victory over the visiting Thunderbirds. They were able to play all dressed players against Algoma and got some of their younger players some significant minutes in the process.
Fifth year senior Jessica Clemencon had a game-high 31 points, while Miah Langlois contributed 17 points, and Korissa Williams had 12 points and a game high 8 steals. Rookie Emily Provost also hit double digits with 11 points, and Tessa Kreiger had a game high 9 rebounds.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
Ryerson 53 @ Guelph 76
GUELPH, Ont. (November 22, 2013) - The Guelph Gryphon women's basketball team defeated the visiting Ryerson Rams 76-53 on Friday night at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. The win moves the Gryphons to a 3-4 record while the Rams drop to 2-5.
Katherine MacTavish led all scorers with 18 points and six rebounds, while guard Erica McFadden chipped in with 16 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Dana Van Balkom was 3-for-5 from three point land and finished with 11 points while Julia Tennant nearly scored a double-double with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Rams were led by Keneca Pingue-Giles with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
The opening quarter started with back and forth scoring. Guelph's offence was spurred by timely three-pointers, including a shot clock buzzer beater by Dana Van Balkom. Guard Erica McFadden led Gryphon scorers with five points in the quarter. Early foul troubles got the Rams to the line often, allowing them to take a first quarter lead. Keneca Pingue-Giles had a game leading 10 points in the first for the Ryerson Rams, including an and-one to give the Rams a 16-11 lead with two and a half minutes to play. Ryerson extended the lead to 22-16 at the end of the first quarter.
The Gryphon's offence woke up in the second quarter. Most of the Gryphon's possessions early were focused on pounding the ball inside. Julia Tennant and Katherine MacTavish did well to post up their defenders in the paint. Tennant had seven boards and six points in the quarter alone. Guelph's strong play on offence and energy on defence allowed them to finally pull ahead of the Rams. Erica McFadden scored five straight for the Gryphon's including a long three to give them a 33-26 lead with only a few minutes remaining in the half. Ryerson managed to cut the deficit a bit, as Guelph was up at the half 35-28.
The Gryphon's offence continued its second quarter success into the third. The offence went 9-14 from the field and 3-5 from beyond the arc. The Gryphon's all chipped in to provide offense, and the big's dominated the defensive glass to not allow the Rams an opportunity to get back in the game. Erin Tilley had a great sequence to close the quarter, nailing a three-pointer, grabbing a defensive board and running the length of the court to feed Katherine MacTavish for the easy lay in as the quarter expired to make it 57-42 for the Gryphons.
Despite the big lead going into the fourth, Guelph did not stop its aggressive play. The team battled for boards and led a fast paced attack, forcing the Rams to take multiple fouls. Both Marlee Freeman and Katherine MacTavish had five points in the quarter. The Gryphon's defeated the Rams convincingly by a margin of 23, winning 76-53.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
Toronto 63 @ Lakehead 65
The women's basketball team averted a disaster following a tumultuous start to the game, and earned a 65-63 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues.
Things looked grim to start the game, as Liane Bailey make three 3-pointers early and Toronto rushed out to a 20-1 lead, a mere 4 minutes into the game. Lakehead would turn things around thanks to some better rebounding, defense, and getting to the free throw line, where they shot 12-of-15 in the first half.
Halftime score favoured the Blues, 32-31.
Lakehead opened up the second half on a 17-3 run to give themselves a comfortable lead, but it was whittled down as the 4th quarter elapsed.
With the game tied at 63 and 16.5 seconds left, Katie Ulakovic drove to the left side and flipped in a tough layup to gain the lead with 3.5 seconds remaining.
Toronto did advance the ball with a time-out and got a good look from 3, but missed it.
Top scorer for Toronto was Liane Bailey with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Jill Stratton scored 16 with 7 boards.
Lakehead was led by Ayse Kalkan with 17 points 7 rebounds. Rookie Katelyn Andrea grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, while Katie Ulakovic finished with 14 points.
Source: Lakehead Sports Info
Saturday, November 23
Laurier 74 @ Ottawa 67
They had opportunities late in the fourth to draw even, but the Gee-Gees couldn’t keep a confident Laurier Golden Hawk team at bay and were handed their second loss of the season on Saturday night, 74-68.
uOttawa went 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first half and shot 43 per cent. On the other end, the Golden Hawks hit 50 per cent of their looks to carry a seven point lead into the break.
“We were kind of getting away from our team defence. Not helping each other out,” said Ottawa guard Stephanie MacDonald following the game. “Our shots weren’t coming from our offence, we were just kind of going off the dribble instead of getting it into our posts, double down, getting it back out for threes. They just weren’t the looks we normally get out of our offence we were forcing it. That’s why I think they weren’t going in.”
The Gee-Gees, the OUA’s second-best team in rebounding differential, lost the rebounding battle for the first time in several games, 22-16 in the first half and 44-41 overall.
A 13-1 Laurier run in the front half of the third quarter gave the Golden Hawks a decent lead. Laura Doyle couldn’t drain anything in the first half but found her touch in the third quarter. She put up 12 points in the frame to help stretch the Hawks lead to as many as 15.
“Our defensive transition in that third quarter when they opened up the lead to 15 was a massive breakdown,” said Gee-Gees head coach Andy Sparks. “Maybe we were feeling stressed thinking ‘we need to get back in this’ so we did silly things in the front court and it was causing us problems in the back court. The finishing was definitely a problem.”
As Laurier continued to hit shots from outside, the Gee-Gees countered by continuing to pound with their inside game, getting the ball into the post to Angela Tilk and Maddie Stephen. It seemed to open up the perimeter game enough and they started hitting shots.
Laurier missed four shots in a row over the final two minutes of the quarter to open the door further for an Ottawa comeback. The lead was cut to seven early in the fourth and got it down to six through three minutes.
The Gee-Gees got within three for the first time since the opening quarter with 1:19 to go but Bree Chaput immediately responded with a three-pointer to make it a two possession game again. MacDonald took it in for a layup to cut the lead back down to five with 11.8 seconds to go but the Gee-Gees couldn’t manage to get any closer.
“That’s where we’ve been lately with the inside game, there’s potential to clean that stuff up,” added Sparks. “You can’t let a team like that get up that much. There’s a lot of fourth year players on that team so when they got up on us, the confidence just started to flow from them. They were feeding off each other and the threes got pretty easy. We’re a young group and so that showed. We had opportunities down the stretch.”
Source: Ottawa Sports Info
Waterloo 46 @ Carleton 61
Elizabeth Roach was not very happy when her Carleton Ravens lost to the Wilfred Laurier on Friday night.
The fifth-year guard from Ottawa, Ontario made sure it didn’t happen again in Carleton’s following game against Waterloo.
The Political Science major helped lead the Ravens to a 61-46 victory over Waterloo by being one of Carleton’s offensive catalysts with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.
“We (Carleton) had to refocus after the loss to Laurier and play a better defensive game,” said Roach.
“I did my role to help the team win but one of the key factors was our ability to limit Waterloo to just 20 points in the first half.”
First year forward Heather Lindsay (Ottawa, ON) led the Ravens attack with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Lindsay Shotbolt (Markham, ON) had 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Ravens head coach, Taffe Charles acknowledged the solid win but admits the women still have plenty to work on.
“We did what we needed to do to win,” Charles said.
“This team still has lots of work to do because we look good at times then other times not so good. We have to get better every practice and every game.”
Source: Carleton Sports Info
Brock 65 @ Queen’s 69
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 23, 2013) - The Queen's Gaels (5-3) defeated the No. 10 Brock Badgers (5-3) 69-65 in overtime on Saturday night at the Athletics and Recreation Centre in Kingston, Ontario.
To say this weekend was exciting for the Queen's women's basketball team would be a huge understatement. Not only did they defeat the McMaster Mauraders on Friday 79-72, but they pulled out a nail biting overtime victory against the No.10 ranked Brock Badgers on Saturday as well. The standout performance for the night was by Gemma Bullard (Guelph, Ont.) who scored 25 points, shooting 9-15 from the floor.
The game was neck and neck for the full fourty minutes, and then some. Both teams struggled shooting from the floor in the first half, but it was the Badgers turnovers and missed freethrows that kept the Gaels ahead by one or two possessions for the majority of the game. The tenacious guard defense by Emily Hazlett (Fredericton), Liz Boag (Kingston, Ont.) and Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) helped Queen's tally 11 steals in the contest. Nicole Rosenkranz kept the Gaels fighting as she finished with 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. The sharp shooting by the Badger's Kayla Santilli, who went 5 of 5 from the three, kept the game close until the buzzer sounded with the score 57-57. The Gaels dominated overtime by knocking down free throws and staying composed when Brock tried to make a last minute run.
This was not a game of individual stats. This was a game of teamwork, from the first whistle to the final buzzer. The standing ovation from the fans at the end of the game commended their efforts perfectly. The Gaels have now won three straight games and have a record of 5-3 on the season.
Source: Queen’s Sports Info
McMaster 55 @ York 53
The York University Lions women's basketball team lost a gruelling last second decision Saturday (Nov. 23), falling short in the final moments of the contest to the McMaster Marauders by a score of 55-53, on home court at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
With another close defeat, the Lions drop to 1-7 on the season.
Hailey Milligan (Brantford, Ont.) was dominant down low for McMaster, fighting for 22 points, along with six rebounds, two steals and an assist.
The Lions relied upon Llyandra Kerr (Markham, Ont.) and Nadia Qahwash (Kitchener, Ont.) offensively, each earning 16 and 14 points respectively and eight rebounds apiece. Qahwash added three assists and a steal.
York would sprint out of the gate, exploding for an 8-0 run to leave the Marauders whirling. Continuing to show poise throughout the first, the Lions worked the ball around the key well to open up driving lanes. They would lead 15-11 after the opening quarter.
Lions forward Emma Thompson (London, Ont.) would open the second with a big three pointer to spark the crowd, and start a 10-1 offensive routing to signal a Marauders timeout.
But the break proved rewarding for the Marauders, as they assembled a 10 point surge of their own to end the half, 26-24.
Once again however, York started the quarter hot, stringing together another seven points before McMaster drained a single bucket. The Marauders eventually settled down, and chipped away at the lead, but York would hold on to the advantage entering the final frame.
The fourth proved highly contested, as the teams traded buckets throughout. Rubbing elbows in the key, McMaster was able to continue chipping away at the Lions lead a little at a time, and would eventually tie the game at 46. As the squads grinded it out, Courtney Osborne (Markham, Ont.) would drain a key three point shot to push the Lions ahead 53-50, erupting the rambunctious crowd, and forcing a timeout.
Returning to the court, the Marauders would adjust, and sneak in two quick baskets to hold a slim one point lead entering the final moments of the game. Forcing a foul, Danielle Boiago (Hamilton, Ont.) added a free throw from the line to push the lead to two with thirteen seconds remaining.
Inbounding in McMaster's zone, the Lions final shot would ring off the rim and bounce out, ending York's hopes and securing the Marauder victory.
Source: York Sports Info
Algoma 38 @ Western 78
LONDON, Ont. – The good times keep on rolling for the Mustangs, as they extend their win-streak to seven games with a big win over the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds, 78-38.
With the win Western retains retains its share of first place in the OUA West with a 7-1 record while the Thunderbirds remain winless in their first season in OUA basketball, falling to 0-8.
Evident in the tilt were two teams that could not be further apart in their development: Western's win-now team looking to make some noise with its stable of strong upperclassmen, and Algoma looking to establish a winning culture. Coach Brian Cheng's Mustangs have had their fair share of growing pains; now it's Algoma coach Ryan Vetrie's turn to take the bumps and bruises.
"Give credit to [Coach Vetrie] and his program," said coach Cheng. "Their kids worked very hard. I don't think the score was indicative of that and they didn't always get rewarded for their hard work. Sometimes I think they worked harder than we did."
Things were not pretty for the Thunderbirds early on. By the second half, the Mustangs had more than doubled Algoma's shooting-percentage 45.5% to 21.2% and led 40-20.
While the Mustangs' offence slowed down as the game progressed, the purple and white locked things down at the other end of the floor. The Thunderbirds' offence sputtered to nine and eight points in the second and third quarter, respectively. With the Mustangs' forward rotation of Melissa Rondinelli, Katelyn Leddy and Victoria Heine denying easy entry in the paint, Algoma settled for deeper shots that ultimately did little to spark the offence. The Thunderbirds would leave the game with a team shooting-percentage of 17.9% from three-point territory on 28 shots.
It was not in the game-plan to force Algoma to live and die on its three-point accuracy but coach Cheng will take the final result.
"I think it comes down to Algoma making decisions that they're just going to get some shots up and attack us through the shot penetration," coach Cheng explained of his team's defensive success. "I thought we got our hands up to challenge everything and make it harder for them."
Rondinelli would lead the game yet again in rebounding with 13 boards while her veteran running-mate Vaughan led the game with a quiet 24 points. Algoma would be led by eight points off the bench from Jenni Thompson and nine rebounds from Karissa Kajorinne.
These 'Birds may not be ready to leave the nest quite yet, but that's okay; no one expected a playoff contender in the program's inaugural season.
"[Coach Ryan Vetrie] and I go way back," said Coach Cheng of his contemporary. "He's an old University of Victoria guy and so am I. His father was a coach and he's a good young coach too. He's working hard to build a program there. There's nothing I need to tell him that he doesn't already know. It's going to be a slow build, but he's persevering and doing it the right way and that program is going to continue to build into a contender."
Source: Western Sports Info
Laurentian 46 @ Windsor 87
The No. 2 Windsor Lancer women's basketball team earned their seventh straight victory with a convincing 86-47 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday night at the St. Denis Centre.
The Lancers continue to be tied for first place in the OUA West division with the Western Mustangs with a 7-1 regular season record.
For the second straight night Windsor built a significant lead in the first and all players saw the court for the Blue & Gold, once again giving playing time to their younger athletes.
Jessica Clemencon led the Blue & Gold with 19 points, while Korissa Williams contributed 18 points and 7 steals and Miah-Marie Langlois 10 points, 7 steals and 6 assists.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
Toronto 76 @ Guelph 73
GUELPH, Ont. – (November 23, 2013) - The Guelph Gryphon's women's basketball team lost to the visiting University of Toronto Varsity Blues 76-73 on Saturday night at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. The loss drops Guelph to 3-5 on the season.
Dana Van Balkom and Katherine MacTavish led the way for the Gryphon's with 20 points each. MacTavish also had seven rebounds on the night.
Jill Stratton led all scorers with 24 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
The Guelph Gryphons started the game off well. Strong inside presence by Guelph's forwards Julia Tennant and Katherine MacTavish against the bigger Toronto players helped Guelph get an early lead. An early 3-pointer from Dana Van Balkam gave Guelph a 9-2 lead. Fifth year guard Marlee Freeman's shot clock beating layup extended the Guelph lead to 10 with 4:06 left on the clock, forcing U of T to take a time out. The time out helped stop some of Guelph's momentum with the score at the end of the first 20-15 Guelph.
Marlee Freeman opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer on the opening possession to extend the Gryphon's lead to eight. Toronto's aggressive frontcourt press seemed to give Guelph problems in the first, but adjustments in the second allowed for a few easy lay-ins. However, Toronto's swarming defense caused Guelph to commit a few key turnovers allowing their efficient offense to tie the game up with four minutes left in the half, and eventually take the lead with under three to play. Toronto's increased defensive tempo in the second quarter held Guelph to just nine points in the quarter, allowing the Varsity Blue's to take a 36-29 lead going into the break. Dana Van Balkom led all Gryphon scorers with 10 points at the half.
Guelph started the second half looking to cut into U of T's lead. Toronto guard Jill Stratton played outstanding as she had 13 points in the quarter and drew multiple fouls. Coming back this weekend after injury, Gryphon guard Kathryn Shortt had a great quarter off the bench, playing eight minutes and notching four points. Guelph vastly improved on their offensive output from the second quarter, sinking 21 points in the third, however they couldn't seem to find an answer for Jill Stratton as she lead Toronto to 22 points in the quarter. A late buzzer beater by Toronto gave the Varsity Blue's an 8-point lead heading into the final quarter.
Guelph opened the final frame with an aggressive offensive scheme. An Erica McFadden 3-pointer cut Toronto's lead to just three with nine minutes left on the clock. Following a U of T basket, Dana Van Balkom hit another Gryphon 3-pointer to cut the lead to two. A quick Toronto run extended their lead to nine points with five minutes to play. Dana Van Balkom, who had been having an extremely strong game, fouled out with 3:55 left on the clock, ending her night with 20 points in the contest. Guelph ramped up their pace late in the contest, shortening Toronto's lead to just five with under two minutes to play. However time was not on Guelph's side in this one, as they were forced to foul Toronto allowing them to increase their lead at the free throw line.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
Ryerson 63 @ Lakehead 57
The women's basketball team suffered a 63-57 defeat to the Ryerson Rams on Saturday evening after leading for the majority of the second half.
After trailing 16-10 after the first quarter, Lakehead put up 23 points in the second quarter to lead 33-30 at the break.
The 'Wolves continued to play inspired ball through the 3rd quarter, leading by 8 heading into the 4th. Unfortunately their offense stalled when they needed it most, and it turned into points for the Rams at the other end, as the Rams outscored Lakehead 21-7 in the final quarter.
Silvana Jez led the Rams with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Keneca Pingue-Giles had 16 points.
For Lakehead, Kelsey Bardsley and Ayse Kalkan had 12 points each, while rookie Blair McNaughton had 10 points. Jessica de Haan pulled down 8 rebounds with 5 points and 3 assists.
Lakehead shot 15-24 (63%) from the free throw line, Ryerson 11-16 (69%).
Source: Lakehead Sports Info
Waterloo 48 @ Ottawa 80
It wasn’t pretty but the Gee-Gees got it done against the Waterloo Warriors, taking Friday’s OUA crossover battle 80-48 and dropping the Warriors to 2-4.
Stephanie MacDonald continued her hot play out of the gate, scoring seven of the Gee-Gees’ first 13 points. She finished up with 26 points, one shy of her season-high total of 27. She was incredibly efficient again, shooting 73 per cent and averaging a point per minute on the court.
The Gee-Gees again played without starting guard Kellie Ring, although they didn’t miss her in this one. Senior Sarah van Hooydonk also sat out her third straight game. But, 6-foot-3 rookie Akpene Kwamie drew back into the lineup.
Coach Andy Sparks was able to spread the minutes around, getting every player out for at least nine minutes. “It was nice tonight to get girls in that don’t play quite as much. Some of them stepped up certainly,” said Sparks. “Julia (Soriano) and Steph (MacDonald) were real solid today, but wasn’t the best for some of the others. Overall, we’ll take it.”
“I thought we were a little bit passive at times tonight. They’re probably a lot better than they showed today but they seemed to be on their heels a little bit,” he said of his bench players. “Really the ones that have not been playing should be inspired to play. So that’s really what you try to get out of this one. There was some inconsistencies but there was also times where it looked pretty good out there. Just not 100 per cent there yet.”
As a crew, the Gee-Gees committed 17 turnovers on the night. “That’s way too many. There’s an example of where we’ve got to clean it up. It’ll come.”
Marti Killeen lead the Warriors’ offence but was held to just 13 points. Kristen Osborne added 10 points. Waterloo shot 34 per cent collectively and surrendered 45 total rebounds to the Gee-Gees on their offensive end. They came on a little in the second, improving their accuracy and scored 32 points in the second half, compared to just 16 in the first.
The Gee-Gees get back at it tomorrow night at 6 p.m. against the Laurier Golden Hawks. They hold an identical 6-1 record after a win over the Carleton Ravens in their Friday game.
Sparks and the Gee-Gees expect a much different game tomorrow. “It’s important to keep the intensity up no matter what or who you’re playing,” said Julia Soriano, who was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the first half, finishing with 14 points and five steals.
“I think we’ve definitely progressed since the start of the season. We’re more connected so the offence flows a lot more. But we’re going to bring the same intensity and hard work tomorrow that we brought today.”
Source: Ottawa Sports Info
Laurier 58 @ Carleton 49
It was a winged affair on Friday night at the Raven’s Nest.
The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks won the battle of the birds with a 58-49 victory over the Ravens in OUA women’s basketball action.
The Ravens (4-3-0) played well at times and held a 21-17 first quarter lead.
At halftime, Carleton was up 35-31 but then things started to unravel for the Ravens.
The Golden Hawks (6-1-0) outscored the Ravens in the last two quarters 27-14 for the win
“It’s unfortunate we (Carleton) didn’t bring our best effort against Laurier,” said Taffe Charles, Ravens head coach.
“Laurier deserved the win so I’m not really shocked with the result. We have to go back to the drawing board and be ready to play better against Waterloo on Saturday night.”
Elizabeth Roach (Ottawa, ON) led the Ravens with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line.
Lindsay Shotbolt (Markham, ON) chipped in with 9 points and 13 boards. McKenzie Sigurdson (Toronto, ON) had a 9 point game.
Source: Carleton Sports Info
McMaster 72 @ Queen’s 79
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 22, 2013) - The Queen's women's basketball team (4-3) stole away with an exciting 79-72 win over the McMaster Marauders (5-2) on Friday night at the Athletic and Recreation Centre.
The energy was high, the game was aggressive, and the victory was sweet. Queen's and McMaster were neck and neck for 40 minutes of action, trying to take home a much needed win. From the tip-off, the Marauders maintained full court man-to-man defense, challenging the Gaels to step up to their relentless defensive pressure. The Gaels were up to the challenge. With a better shooting percentage than the visiting team at the half way mark, they only trailed 39-36.
Hailey Milligan of McMaster, who had an impressive 25 points and 17 rebounds in the game, made it difficult for the Gaels to take the lead. Despite the dangerous tandem of Milligan and Danielle Boiago of the Mauraders, Queen's snagged the lead in the fourth. Clutch threes by Liz Boag (Kingston, Ont.) and Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) helped the Gaels outscore their opponent 30-18 in the final quarter. It was a great team win for an ever improving and maturing Queen's squad.
Boag finished with a team high 18 points, followed by Robyn Pearson (Toronto) who contributed 17 points and six boards.
Source: Queen’s Sports Info
Brock 66 @ York 34
The York University Lions women's basketball team was defeated by a score of 66-34 by the No. 10 nationally-ranked Brock Badgers at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Friday night (Nov. 22).
The Badgers controlled play throughout the contest, putting up at least 15 points in every quarter for the lopsided win. The Lions, meanwhile, reached 13 points only once. They drop to 1-6 with the loss, while the Badgers improved to 5-2.
Nadia Qahwash (Kitchener, Ont.) led the Lions in scoring with nine points in the game. She also had two rebounds and one assist. Llyandra Kerr (Markham, Ont.) finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Badgers had four different players reach double digits in scoring and two, Nicole Rosenkranz (Niagara Falls, Ont.) and Samantha DeJong (St. Catharines, Ont.), who put up double-doubles. Rosenkranz finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, while DeJong had 11 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and one block.
Their leading scorer was Andrea Polischuk (Brantford, Ont.) with 17 points, as well as nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Kayla Santilli (Brantford, Ont.) had 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Source: York Sports Info
Laurentian 53 @ Western 88
LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs continue to build the case for OUA superiority with a dominant schooling of the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs, 88-53 on Friday night at Alumni Hall.
With the win the Mustangs pushed their winning-streak to six games since their season-opening loss to Ottawa back on November 1.
Like a canoe set adrift, the Voyageurs lacked the focus and perseverance of their namesake, unable to overcome the early storm of the Mustangs' offence, led admirably by fifth-year veteran Jenny Vaughan.
18 first-half points from the captain allowed the Mustangs to race out to a 51-22 halftime lead, one that would never be challenged.
Vaughan finished with a game-high 24 points, including 9-for-11 from the charity stripe. The Voyageurs were led by forward Mary Scott with 14 points off the bench.
Fifth-year forward Melissa Rondinelli recorded a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Mustangs.
Not only did Western pound the paint for a 38-8 advantage but veteran guard Kelsey Wright and dynamic first-year Mackenzie Puklicz combined for 6-of-13 from three-point territory in the game.
Western head coach Brian Cheng was quick to emphasize the room for improvement, despite his team's early season success.
"We're trying to work on establishing our defence and rebounding. I thought our offence sputtered a little at the beginning – it was low scoring at first. I thought our defence did the job early and we just exploded like we can and we rallied around there."
And he's quick to shut-down any talk of win streaks until the team really proves itself; coach Cheng demands everything be kept in perspective
"We only won one game. We're 1-0 today and tomorrow we could be 0-1. We're as good as our last game."
Game by game, the Mustangs' offence seems to find new ways to improve. Low shooting percentages that previously permeated entire games this season have steadily improved since day one, becoming one of the strengths of this unit. Every woman on the floor gives the impression that they know exactly where they should be on any given play, with complete offensive breakdowns fewer and further in-between.
With their large lead cemented early, Cheng had the opportunity to try out many of his new recruits alongside his established veterans. For a sequence of plays in the first half, Vaughan led her underclassmen Puklicz, Victoria Heine, Abigail Kuhn and Louise Bunce in several minutes of needed playing-time. The continued development of the first-year talent will be a needed boost for the purple and ehite as they begin to size-up the potential of postseason play.
"There's a big discrepancy between our young forwards and our fifth-year forwards," said coach Cheng. "It's like school: it's like jumping from grade seven to grade twelve. The gap is a little bit closer – I think our posts can play. Our first-year players are working really hard and there's a lot of potential there."
Source: Western Sports Info
Algoma 25 @ Windsor 104
In their first ever meeting, the No. 2 ranked Lancer women's basketball team easily defeated the Algoma Thunderbirds 104-25 on Friday night at the St. Denis Centre.
With the win, the Lancers captured their 6th straight victory and are now 6-1 in the regular season and are tied for first place in the OUA west division with the Western Mustangs.
The Lancers built a big first half lead and cruised to victory over the visiting Thunderbirds. They were able to play all dressed players against Algoma and got some of their younger players some significant minutes in the process.
Fifth year senior Jessica Clemencon had a game-high 31 points, while Miah Langlois contributed 17 points, and Korissa Williams had 12 points and a game high 8 steals. Rookie Emily Provost also hit double digits with 11 points, and Tessa Kreiger had a game high 9 rebounds.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
Ryerson 53 @ Guelph 76
GUELPH, Ont. (November 22, 2013) - The Guelph Gryphon women's basketball team defeated the visiting Ryerson Rams 76-53 on Friday night at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. The win moves the Gryphons to a 3-4 record while the Rams drop to 2-5.
Katherine MacTavish led all scorers with 18 points and six rebounds, while guard Erica McFadden chipped in with 16 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Dana Van Balkom was 3-for-5 from three point land and finished with 11 points while Julia Tennant nearly scored a double-double with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Rams were led by Keneca Pingue-Giles with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
The opening quarter started with back and forth scoring. Guelph's offence was spurred by timely three-pointers, including a shot clock buzzer beater by Dana Van Balkom. Guard Erica McFadden led Gryphon scorers with five points in the quarter. Early foul troubles got the Rams to the line often, allowing them to take a first quarter lead. Keneca Pingue-Giles had a game leading 10 points in the first for the Ryerson Rams, including an and-one to give the Rams a 16-11 lead with two and a half minutes to play. Ryerson extended the lead to 22-16 at the end of the first quarter.
The Gryphon's offence woke up in the second quarter. Most of the Gryphon's possessions early were focused on pounding the ball inside. Julia Tennant and Katherine MacTavish did well to post up their defenders in the paint. Tennant had seven boards and six points in the quarter alone. Guelph's strong play on offence and energy on defence allowed them to finally pull ahead of the Rams. Erica McFadden scored five straight for the Gryphon's including a long three to give them a 33-26 lead with only a few minutes remaining in the half. Ryerson managed to cut the deficit a bit, as Guelph was up at the half 35-28.
The Gryphon's offence continued its second quarter success into the third. The offence went 9-14 from the field and 3-5 from beyond the arc. The Gryphon's all chipped in to provide offense, and the big's dominated the defensive glass to not allow the Rams an opportunity to get back in the game. Erin Tilley had a great sequence to close the quarter, nailing a three-pointer, grabbing a defensive board and running the length of the court to feed Katherine MacTavish for the easy lay in as the quarter expired to make it 57-42 for the Gryphons.
Despite the big lead going into the fourth, Guelph did not stop its aggressive play. The team battled for boards and led a fast paced attack, forcing the Rams to take multiple fouls. Both Marlee Freeman and Katherine MacTavish had five points in the quarter. The Gryphon's defeated the Rams convincingly by a margin of 23, winning 76-53.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
Toronto 63 @ Lakehead 65
The women's basketball team averted a disaster following a tumultuous start to the game, and earned a 65-63 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues.
Things looked grim to start the game, as Liane Bailey make three 3-pointers early and Toronto rushed out to a 20-1 lead, a mere 4 minutes into the game. Lakehead would turn things around thanks to some better rebounding, defense, and getting to the free throw line, where they shot 12-of-15 in the first half.
Halftime score favoured the Blues, 32-31.
Lakehead opened up the second half on a 17-3 run to give themselves a comfortable lead, but it was whittled down as the 4th quarter elapsed.
With the game tied at 63 and 16.5 seconds left, Katie Ulakovic drove to the left side and flipped in a tough layup to gain the lead with 3.5 seconds remaining.
Toronto did advance the ball with a time-out and got a good look from 3, but missed it.
Top scorer for Toronto was Liane Bailey with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Jill Stratton scored 16 with 7 boards.
Lakehead was led by Ayse Kalkan with 17 points 7 rebounds. Rookie Katelyn Andrea grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, while Katie Ulakovic finished with 14 points.
Source: Lakehead Sports Info
Saturday, November 23
Laurier 74 @ Ottawa 67
They had opportunities late in the fourth to draw even, but the Gee-Gees couldn’t keep a confident Laurier Golden Hawk team at bay and were handed their second loss of the season on Saturday night, 74-68.
uOttawa went 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first half and shot 43 per cent. On the other end, the Golden Hawks hit 50 per cent of their looks to carry a seven point lead into the break.
“We were kind of getting away from our team defence. Not helping each other out,” said Ottawa guard Stephanie MacDonald following the game. “Our shots weren’t coming from our offence, we were just kind of going off the dribble instead of getting it into our posts, double down, getting it back out for threes. They just weren’t the looks we normally get out of our offence we were forcing it. That’s why I think they weren’t going in.”
The Gee-Gees, the OUA’s second-best team in rebounding differential, lost the rebounding battle for the first time in several games, 22-16 in the first half and 44-41 overall.
A 13-1 Laurier run in the front half of the third quarter gave the Golden Hawks a decent lead. Laura Doyle couldn’t drain anything in the first half but found her touch in the third quarter. She put up 12 points in the frame to help stretch the Hawks lead to as many as 15.
“Our defensive transition in that third quarter when they opened up the lead to 15 was a massive breakdown,” said Gee-Gees head coach Andy Sparks. “Maybe we were feeling stressed thinking ‘we need to get back in this’ so we did silly things in the front court and it was causing us problems in the back court. The finishing was definitely a problem.”
As Laurier continued to hit shots from outside, the Gee-Gees countered by continuing to pound with their inside game, getting the ball into the post to Angela Tilk and Maddie Stephen. It seemed to open up the perimeter game enough and they started hitting shots.
Laurier missed four shots in a row over the final two minutes of the quarter to open the door further for an Ottawa comeback. The lead was cut to seven early in the fourth and got it down to six through three minutes.
The Gee-Gees got within three for the first time since the opening quarter with 1:19 to go but Bree Chaput immediately responded with a three-pointer to make it a two possession game again. MacDonald took it in for a layup to cut the lead back down to five with 11.8 seconds to go but the Gee-Gees couldn’t manage to get any closer.
“That’s where we’ve been lately with the inside game, there’s potential to clean that stuff up,” added Sparks. “You can’t let a team like that get up that much. There’s a lot of fourth year players on that team so when they got up on us, the confidence just started to flow from them. They were feeding off each other and the threes got pretty easy. We’re a young group and so that showed. We had opportunities down the stretch.”
Source: Ottawa Sports Info
Waterloo 46 @ Carleton 61
Elizabeth Roach was not very happy when her Carleton Ravens lost to the Wilfred Laurier on Friday night.
The fifth-year guard from Ottawa, Ontario made sure it didn’t happen again in Carleton’s following game against Waterloo.
The Political Science major helped lead the Ravens to a 61-46 victory over Waterloo by being one of Carleton’s offensive catalysts with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.
“We (Carleton) had to refocus after the loss to Laurier and play a better defensive game,” said Roach.
“I did my role to help the team win but one of the key factors was our ability to limit Waterloo to just 20 points in the first half.”
First year forward Heather Lindsay (Ottawa, ON) led the Ravens attack with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Lindsay Shotbolt (Markham, ON) had 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Ravens head coach, Taffe Charles acknowledged the solid win but admits the women still have plenty to work on.
“We did what we needed to do to win,” Charles said.
“This team still has lots of work to do because we look good at times then other times not so good. We have to get better every practice and every game.”
Source: Carleton Sports Info
Brock 65 @ Queen’s 69
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 23, 2013) - The Queen's Gaels (5-3) defeated the No. 10 Brock Badgers (5-3) 69-65 in overtime on Saturday night at the Athletics and Recreation Centre in Kingston, Ontario.
To say this weekend was exciting for the Queen's women's basketball team would be a huge understatement. Not only did they defeat the McMaster Mauraders on Friday 79-72, but they pulled out a nail biting overtime victory against the No.10 ranked Brock Badgers on Saturday as well. The standout performance for the night was by Gemma Bullard (Guelph, Ont.) who scored 25 points, shooting 9-15 from the floor.
The game was neck and neck for the full fourty minutes, and then some. Both teams struggled shooting from the floor in the first half, but it was the Badgers turnovers and missed freethrows that kept the Gaels ahead by one or two possessions for the majority of the game. The tenacious guard defense by Emily Hazlett (Fredericton), Liz Boag (Kingston, Ont.) and Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) helped Queen's tally 11 steals in the contest. Nicole Rosenkranz kept the Gaels fighting as she finished with 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. The sharp shooting by the Badger's Kayla Santilli, who went 5 of 5 from the three, kept the game close until the buzzer sounded with the score 57-57. The Gaels dominated overtime by knocking down free throws and staying composed when Brock tried to make a last minute run.
This was not a game of individual stats. This was a game of teamwork, from the first whistle to the final buzzer. The standing ovation from the fans at the end of the game commended their efforts perfectly. The Gaels have now won three straight games and have a record of 5-3 on the season.
Source: Queen’s Sports Info
McMaster 55 @ York 53
The York University Lions women's basketball team lost a gruelling last second decision Saturday (Nov. 23), falling short in the final moments of the contest to the McMaster Marauders by a score of 55-53, on home court at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
With another close defeat, the Lions drop to 1-7 on the season.
Hailey Milligan (Brantford, Ont.) was dominant down low for McMaster, fighting for 22 points, along with six rebounds, two steals and an assist.
The Lions relied upon Llyandra Kerr (Markham, Ont.) and Nadia Qahwash (Kitchener, Ont.) offensively, each earning 16 and 14 points respectively and eight rebounds apiece. Qahwash added three assists and a steal.
York would sprint out of the gate, exploding for an 8-0 run to leave the Marauders whirling. Continuing to show poise throughout the first, the Lions worked the ball around the key well to open up driving lanes. They would lead 15-11 after the opening quarter.
Lions forward Emma Thompson (London, Ont.) would open the second with a big three pointer to spark the crowd, and start a 10-1 offensive routing to signal a Marauders timeout.
But the break proved rewarding for the Marauders, as they assembled a 10 point surge of their own to end the half, 26-24.
Once again however, York started the quarter hot, stringing together another seven points before McMaster drained a single bucket. The Marauders eventually settled down, and chipped away at the lead, but York would hold on to the advantage entering the final frame.
The fourth proved highly contested, as the teams traded buckets throughout. Rubbing elbows in the key, McMaster was able to continue chipping away at the Lions lead a little at a time, and would eventually tie the game at 46. As the squads grinded it out, Courtney Osborne (Markham, Ont.) would drain a key three point shot to push the Lions ahead 53-50, erupting the rambunctious crowd, and forcing a timeout.
Returning to the court, the Marauders would adjust, and sneak in two quick baskets to hold a slim one point lead entering the final moments of the game. Forcing a foul, Danielle Boiago (Hamilton, Ont.) added a free throw from the line to push the lead to two with thirteen seconds remaining.
Inbounding in McMaster's zone, the Lions final shot would ring off the rim and bounce out, ending York's hopes and securing the Marauder victory.
Source: York Sports Info
Algoma 38 @ Western 78
LONDON, Ont. – The good times keep on rolling for the Mustangs, as they extend their win-streak to seven games with a big win over the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds, 78-38.
With the win Western retains retains its share of first place in the OUA West with a 7-1 record while the Thunderbirds remain winless in their first season in OUA basketball, falling to 0-8.
Evident in the tilt were two teams that could not be further apart in their development: Western's win-now team looking to make some noise with its stable of strong upperclassmen, and Algoma looking to establish a winning culture. Coach Brian Cheng's Mustangs have had their fair share of growing pains; now it's Algoma coach Ryan Vetrie's turn to take the bumps and bruises.
"Give credit to [Coach Vetrie] and his program," said coach Cheng. "Their kids worked very hard. I don't think the score was indicative of that and they didn't always get rewarded for their hard work. Sometimes I think they worked harder than we did."
Things were not pretty for the Thunderbirds early on. By the second half, the Mustangs had more than doubled Algoma's shooting-percentage 45.5% to 21.2% and led 40-20.
While the Mustangs' offence slowed down as the game progressed, the purple and white locked things down at the other end of the floor. The Thunderbirds' offence sputtered to nine and eight points in the second and third quarter, respectively. With the Mustangs' forward rotation of Melissa Rondinelli, Katelyn Leddy and Victoria Heine denying easy entry in the paint, Algoma settled for deeper shots that ultimately did little to spark the offence. The Thunderbirds would leave the game with a team shooting-percentage of 17.9% from three-point territory on 28 shots.
It was not in the game-plan to force Algoma to live and die on its three-point accuracy but coach Cheng will take the final result.
"I think it comes down to Algoma making decisions that they're just going to get some shots up and attack us through the shot penetration," coach Cheng explained of his team's defensive success. "I thought we got our hands up to challenge everything and make it harder for them."
Rondinelli would lead the game yet again in rebounding with 13 boards while her veteran running-mate Vaughan led the game with a quiet 24 points. Algoma would be led by eight points off the bench from Jenni Thompson and nine rebounds from Karissa Kajorinne.
These 'Birds may not be ready to leave the nest quite yet, but that's okay; no one expected a playoff contender in the program's inaugural season.
"[Coach Ryan Vetrie] and I go way back," said Coach Cheng of his contemporary. "He's an old University of Victoria guy and so am I. His father was a coach and he's a good young coach too. He's working hard to build a program there. There's nothing I need to tell him that he doesn't already know. It's going to be a slow build, but he's persevering and doing it the right way and that program is going to continue to build into a contender."
Source: Western Sports Info
Laurentian 46 @ Windsor 87
The No. 2 Windsor Lancer women's basketball team earned their seventh straight victory with a convincing 86-47 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday night at the St. Denis Centre.
The Lancers continue to be tied for first place in the OUA West division with the Western Mustangs with a 7-1 regular season record.
For the second straight night Windsor built a significant lead in the first and all players saw the court for the Blue & Gold, once again giving playing time to their younger athletes.
Jessica Clemencon led the Blue & Gold with 19 points, while Korissa Williams contributed 18 points and 7 steals and Miah-Marie Langlois 10 points, 7 steals and 6 assists.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
Toronto 76 @ Guelph 73
GUELPH, Ont. – (November 23, 2013) - The Guelph Gryphon's women's basketball team lost to the visiting University of Toronto Varsity Blues 76-73 on Saturday night at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. The loss drops Guelph to 3-5 on the season.
Dana Van Balkom and Katherine MacTavish led the way for the Gryphon's with 20 points each. MacTavish also had seven rebounds on the night.
Jill Stratton led all scorers with 24 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
The Guelph Gryphons started the game off well. Strong inside presence by Guelph's forwards Julia Tennant and Katherine MacTavish against the bigger Toronto players helped Guelph get an early lead. An early 3-pointer from Dana Van Balkam gave Guelph a 9-2 lead. Fifth year guard Marlee Freeman's shot clock beating layup extended the Guelph lead to 10 with 4:06 left on the clock, forcing U of T to take a time out. The time out helped stop some of Guelph's momentum with the score at the end of the first 20-15 Guelph.
Marlee Freeman opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer on the opening possession to extend the Gryphon's lead to eight. Toronto's aggressive frontcourt press seemed to give Guelph problems in the first, but adjustments in the second allowed for a few easy lay-ins. However, Toronto's swarming defense caused Guelph to commit a few key turnovers allowing their efficient offense to tie the game up with four minutes left in the half, and eventually take the lead with under three to play. Toronto's increased defensive tempo in the second quarter held Guelph to just nine points in the quarter, allowing the Varsity Blue's to take a 36-29 lead going into the break. Dana Van Balkom led all Gryphon scorers with 10 points at the half.
Guelph started the second half looking to cut into U of T's lead. Toronto guard Jill Stratton played outstanding as she had 13 points in the quarter and drew multiple fouls. Coming back this weekend after injury, Gryphon guard Kathryn Shortt had a great quarter off the bench, playing eight minutes and notching four points. Guelph vastly improved on their offensive output from the second quarter, sinking 21 points in the third, however they couldn't seem to find an answer for Jill Stratton as she lead Toronto to 22 points in the quarter. A late buzzer beater by Toronto gave the Varsity Blue's an 8-point lead heading into the final quarter.
Guelph opened the final frame with an aggressive offensive scheme. An Erica McFadden 3-pointer cut Toronto's lead to just three with nine minutes left on the clock. Following a U of T basket, Dana Van Balkom hit another Gryphon 3-pointer to cut the lead to two. A quick Toronto run extended their lead to nine points with five minutes to play. Dana Van Balkom, who had been having an extremely strong game, fouled out with 3:55 left on the clock, ending her night with 20 points in the contest. Guelph ramped up their pace late in the contest, shortening Toronto's lead to just five with under two minutes to play. However time was not on Guelph's side in this one, as they were forced to foul Toronto allowing them to increase their lead at the free throw line.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
Ryerson 63 @ Lakehead 57
The women's basketball team suffered a 63-57 defeat to the Ryerson Rams on Saturday evening after leading for the majority of the second half.
After trailing 16-10 after the first quarter, Lakehead put up 23 points in the second quarter to lead 33-30 at the break.
The 'Wolves continued to play inspired ball through the 3rd quarter, leading by 8 heading into the 4th. Unfortunately their offense stalled when they needed it most, and it turned into points for the Rams at the other end, as the Rams outscored Lakehead 21-7 in the final quarter.
Silvana Jez led the Rams with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Keneca Pingue-Giles had 16 points.
For Lakehead, Kelsey Bardsley and Ayse Kalkan had 12 points each, while rookie Blair McNaughton had 10 points. Jessica de Haan pulled down 8 rebounds with 5 points and 3 assists.
Lakehead shot 15-24 (63%) from the free throw line, Ryerson 11-16 (69%).
Source: Lakehead Sports Info
