TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker in overtime on Saturday night, falling 76-73 to the No. 10 ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
BOXSCORE
Ottawa's Julia Soriano hit a three pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining in the extra frame and the Rams couldn't answer with their own long range shot as the Gee-Gees came away with the victory.
“Their last shot went in and our last shot didn't go in, that's how close the game was today,” said Rams head coach Carly Clarke after the game. “(If) we clean up a couple things in terms of discipline and fouling on rebounding then we come away with the win.”
The Rams started the game with lots of energy at both ends of the floor and jumped out to a 19-8 lead after the first ten minutes. From there, the Gee-Gees made some adjustments on defence and Ottawa countered with a 21 point performance in the second quarter to narrow the halftime deficit to just three points as the Rams led 32-29.
“More than anything, our defence lost some intensity. They scored 21 points after having only eight in the first. We just weren't energized the way we started the game,” said Clarke on the change in momentum in the second quarter.
The two teams matched each other point for point in the third as both squads put up 16 points which gave the Rams a 48-45 lead going into the final frame.
The scoring was slow to start the fourth as both teams could manage just two points each through the first four minutes but the intensity began to pick up again down the stretch.
Ottawa took a 62-58 advantage with 1:10 remaining as Soriano hit one of her six three-pointers on the night but the Rams stayed composed down the stretch and tied the game at 64-64 to send the game into overtime.
In the extra frame the Rams took a three point advantage but Ottawa erased that and then took a 73-73 lead on a pair of Soriano free throws. Mariah Nunes then came down and got her running shot to fall to tie the game again at 73-73.
With 28 seconds left in the game the Gee-Gees ran down the clock and Soriano connected from three with 5.1 seconds remaining. After a Rams timeout, Keneca Pingue-Giles attempted to extend the game once more but her long range shot hit the front rim and bounced out, leaving the Gee-Gees victorious.
Soriano and Kellie Ring finished with game-highs of 20 points in the win for Ottawa while Pingue-Giles finished with 17 points in the loss.
The Rams move to 7-3 on the season while Ottawa improves to 9-1. Ryerson returns to action on January 29 when they travel to Sudbury to face the Laurentian Voyageurs.
