W-BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Ravens need OT to win battle of Ottawa
Queen’s Gaels @ RMC Paladins
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 3, 2012) - Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont. scored 29 points this evening as the Queen's Gaels (9-8) topped the Royal Military College Paladins (0-17) 60-53.
The Gaels got off to a slow start in tonight's game. They were down 17-15 at the end of the first quarter to the winless Paladins. The second quarter, however, was all Gaels as they outscored the Paladins by nine points 17-8. They carried this momentum into the second half with a four point swing 15-11 in the third frame over RMC. In the fourth quarter, the Paladins made a run, finishing the quarter with 17 points to the Gaels 13, but it was too little too late.
Moore led all scorers with 29 points on 10-20 shooting while adding three rebounds. Moore, the active OUA scoring leader, now moves only 20 points away from fourth place on the all-time OUA scoring list.
Sydney Kernahan of Calgary chipped in with four points and a game high 10 rebounds in the win.
The Paladins had four scorers in double digits including Sandy Edmison of Carleton Place, Ont. who had 15 points and 10 rebounds for a double double.
TORONTO- Fifth-year veteran Ashley MacDonald stunned the CIS No. 9-ranked Toronto Varsity Blues at Kerr Hall Gym on Friday night, nailing a long three-pointer with five seconds left in regulation to lift the Ryerson Rams women's basketball team to a 66- 65 victory over their downtown rivals.
Kelsey Wright (Brampton, Ont.) tallied a game-high 16 points and Dayana Gechkova added 14 for the Rams, while Megan Stoncius answered with 16 for the Blues.
"We defended, they didn't get too many open looks," said Head Coach Charles Kissi. "They are a great shooting team. (But) the difference was we didn't quit. We never let U of T get too far ahead and gave ourselves a chance."
The victory brings the Rams (9-9) up to the .500 mark, while the Blues fall to 12-6 on the year.
Gechkova netted the first four points of the contest on back-to-back possessions, and helped the Rams to an early 7-4 lead in the opening quarter. A three-pointer from Jill Stratton evened the quarter at 11-11.
The Blues went on a 10-2 run, with Liane Bailey draining another bucket from beyond the arc. Angela Tilk answered with four-straight points, and Ryerson was down 20-19 at the end of the first.
The Rams went up by a couple midway through the second on a lay-up by Annie Sokoloff (North Vancouver, B.C.). The game would stay tied at 25-25 up to the seven-minute mark as both teams dried up offensively for a 3-minute span.
The teams were able to find their shooting late in the half, and Tilk (Welland, Ont.) got into foul trouble, picking up three personals through the first 20 minutes.
Gechkova (Sofia, Bulgaria) drained a first-half high of 10 points for the Rams while Stoncius and Stratton also tallied 10 apiece for the Blues. Both squads were shooting over 40% from the floor going into the third quarter.
Neither side was able to gain momentum throughout the third. The lead was traded on a number of occasions, but the visitors held a slight 50-49 advantage heading into the final period. Tilk was limited because of her fouls, taking nine points and seven boards into the fourth. However, she also picked up her fourth personal late in the third period, forcing her to be much more passive for the rest of the contest.
Rachael Sider extended the Blues lead early on, and after Toronto took a four-point lead, Alexandrea Tkaczyk (Cambridge, Ont.) fouled out of the contest. Sherri Pierce spread the lead to six soon after, and Kissi called a timeout to talk things over at the 4-minute mark.
Gechkova and MacDonald (Port Colborne, Ont.) helped Ryerson slice into the lead, but a big play by Stoncius helped break the momentum. She picked up the bucket and also forced a fifth foul from Tilk, taking her out of the contest at 3:29.
Stoncius drained another crucial shot to maintain the Blues lead, but two made free- throws from MacDonald kept the Rams within four. Wright picked up a rebound and a bucket to cut the lead in half, but Pierce was equal to the task at the other end of the floor, making both her foul shots to keep Toronto ahead.
Gechkova was put on the line after grabbing a defensive rebound off a missed Blues shot, and pulled Ryerson with two once again with 38.6 seconds on the clock. MacDonald would follow that with her final moment heroics to give her team a win over the downtown rivals.
"(Ashley) was freaking out a little bit when she didn't make some shots early," said Kissi. "She's the number one scorer in the OUA, (so I said) ‘you have to keep going and not get frustrated.' I knew (her shot) was going in. She's a fifth-year kid and knows how to make plays."
The Rams will take on York and Laurentian next Friday and Saturday at Kerr Hall Gym in their final home games of the season. Ryerson will hit the road after that, heading east on February 17 and 18 to hit the court against Ottawa and Carleton for their last conference games before the post-season.
Source: Rams Athletics
The York University Lions women's basketball team came close to squandering a nine-point lead at halftime with a rough third quarter but managed to hang on to defeat the Laurentian Lady Vees by a score of 50-49 on Friday (Feb. 3) at Tait McKenzie Centre.
Brittany Szockyj (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.), who is the Lions' leading scorer this season and 11th in league scoring with 13.11 points per game, was held to just eight points on the night, but seven of those points came in the fourth quarter when it counted most. She more than made up for her quiet night on offence with a game-high four steals.
Emma Decloe (Sundridge, Ont.) led all scorers with 22 points and 14 rebounds and was the only player to record a double-double on the night, but her great individual outburst was not enough to overcome the Lions' balanced scoring attack.
With the win, the Lions improve to 7-11 on the season and clinched a playoff spot. They currently remain in sixth place in the OUA East with 14 points, eight points ahead of the Lady Vees (3-15) with just four games remaining. Friday's win also snapped a five-game losing streak for the Lions dating back to mid-January.
Both teams had difficulty hitting their shots early on and put up just four points apiece through the opening five minutes of play.
Hayley Finn (London, Ont.) would knock down the only three of the quarter moments later to give the Lions a 7-4 lead. Finn's three marked the end of the Lions' offence in the first, however, as the Vees would close out the quarter on a 5-0 run and take a 9-7 lead into the break.
The Lions rebounded in the second and outscored the Vees 17-6 thanks to some hot three-point shooting from Finn, Ernest and Courtney Osborne (Markham, Ont.). Finn led the Lions with eight points in the first half, six of which came via threes.
The Vees were held to just one point for most of the quarter but would end the frame on yet another 5-0 run, capped by a Krysten Patrick (Stittsville, Ont.) three, to remain within striking distance at 24-15 heading into halftime.
In the third, things went a bit south for the Lions, as Decloe put the Vees on her back and cut the Lions' lead from nine to one at 34-33. Decloe accounted for 11 of the Vees' 16 points in the frame and was an unstoppable force in the paint, taking several trips to the charity stripe as a result and converting all five of her free throw opportunities.
The Lions opened the fourth with back-to-back threes from Szockyj and Ernest to open up a comfortable seven-point lead, but the Vees would battle back and pull to within one at 50-49 on a layup from Erin Simpson (Sudbury, Ont.) with less than 20 seconds remaining, setting up a thrilling finish.
The Vees quickly fouled Osborne on the following play, sending her to the line with a chance to put the Lions up by three and all but seal the victory. Osborne, however, missed both of her free throws, putting the ball back in the Vees' hands with just over 13 seconds left on the clock. The Vees immediately charged down the floor in search of the game-winning basket, but the Lions buckled down on defence and forced the Vees to rush a last second shot that bounced harmlessly off the outside of the rim and wide as time expired, much to the relief of the home crowd.
The Lions will look to extend their winning streak to two when they visit the Ryerson Rams (9-9) next Friday (Feb. 10) in their third and final Shoot for the Cure game. Tip off is set for 6pm.
Source: Lions Athletics
The women's basketball team ended their 4-game losing skid with a win on Friday night, 70-50 over the Waterloo Warriors. Lakehead got out to an early 25-8 lead after ten minutes of play, and would cruise from there to seal the victory. Waterloo did make a late 4th quarter run which cut the lead to 12, but could not get any closer. Lakehead's early lead allowed them to use more of their bench as the game progressed, with Lindsay Inkila and Katie Ulakovic playing well down the stretch. Kelsey Bardsley did leave the game early to have her finger taped after she had it jammed, but would return to provide good ball handling against Waterloo's 2-2-1 press, and hit 2 three pointers. Bardsley finished with 11 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots.
Lakehead's post players took care of business in the paint, with Lindsay Druery and Lacey McNulty scoring 17 and 14 points, respectively. As a team Lakehead shot 39% from the floor and 63% from the foul line.
Coach Jon Kreiner: "Tonight we had a great first quarter. After that we turned the ball over and fouled too much. Kelsey Bardsley had a great game tonight and really helped us against pressure and she also did a great job getting the ball inside. I also thought Lindsay and Lacey did a good job getting open inside. Tomorrow we will need to be ready to play at a higher level for more of the game but overall it was a good team win."
With the win Lakehead moves into the 6th and final playoff spot in the OUA West, 2 points ahead of Guelph.
Source: Thunderwolves Athletics
WATERLOO, Ont. (February 4, 2012) - Looking to get back on track after a tough loss to the No. 2 Windsor Lancers, the Wilfrid Laurier women's basketball team kept themselves in second place in OUA West with a 81-71 victory over the visiting McMaster Marauders, snapping the Marauders four-game winning-streak.
Laurier opened up the game on a 5-0 run, and led by as many as 10 points in the frame. The Hawks used the momentum to pull ahead of the Marauders 22-16 by the end of the quarter. Christa Mancino of Port Colborne, Ont., led the offensive attack for the Hawks, tallying 8 points in the quarter.
The Marauders tied the game up at 29 with five minutes remaining in the half, and McMaster got the best of Laurier as the two teams traded buckets as time wound down. McMaster held a 39-36 lead going into the locker-room at half.
It was more of the same in the third quarter as Laurier levelled the score or took the lead six times only to end the quarter down by a single point, 55-54. The fourth quarter finally saw the purple and gold break through just three minutes into the quarter, scoring ten straight points to put themselves in the lead by nine. Laurier was solid from the free-throw line down the stretch, securing their 81-71 victory.
Kimberley Yeldon of Ottawa, led Laurier with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Amber Hillis of Hamilton, and Shelby Kurt of Waterloo, Ont., both added 15 points.
Christa Mancino and Laura Doyle of Guelph, Ont. rounded out the scoring with 11 and 10 points respectively. Doreen Bonsu of Oakville, Ont. recorded a personal-best 15 rebounds for the Hawks.
Taylor Chiarot of Hamilton, led all scorers with 19 points, while Hailey Milligan of Brantford, Ont., and Stephanie Truelove of Barrie, Ont., both chipped in with 14 and 12 points respectively.
Laurier will next host Guelph (7-10) on Wednesday, February 8th. McMaster's next matchup will be against the 9-9 Western Mustangs on February 8th.
Source: Laurier Athletics
The University of Western Ontario Mustangs nearly squandered away a 15-point lead before squeaking out a 75-69 victory over the visiting Brock University Badgers.
Annabel Hancock's 3-pointer at the 5:23 point of the second quarter would extend the Mustang lead to 15 points. However, a rash of turnovers and second-chance points favoring Brock would allow the visitors to close the gap to only five points heading into the half.
Brock University fought back late into the fourth quarter, tying the game with a 3-pointer from Sarah Mallen with 6:34 left. The Mustangs would gain control less than a minute later off of Katelyn Leddy's two foul shots and would never surrender the lead.
The Mustangs were paced by Leddy's 23 points. Also chipping in were Jenny Vaughan and Dally who both provided 16 points. Despite being out-rebounded heavily on the offensive glass (22-9), the Mustangs held on to the lead through the majority of the game thanks to a 71-percent shooting mark from beyond the arc in the first half and holding the visitors to a paltry 36-percent from the floor.
Western Ontario will be in action again on February 8th as it travels to McMaster for a 6:00pm tipoff.
Source: Mustangs Athletics
The No. 2 Lancer women’s basketball team overwhelmed the Guelph Gryphons 75-42 on Saturday afternoon in Guelph.
Bojana Kovacevic led all scorers, netting 18 points for the Lancers, while adding eight rebounds and six assists, all game highs. Jocelyn LaRocque came off the bench to contribute 17 points on 4-5 shooting from deep. Jessica Clemencon added 12 points while seeing limited action.
Samantha Russell led the Gryphon’s with 12 points, while Alyssa Shortt chipped in nine points to go with eight rebounds
The Lancers outrebounded the Gryphons 42-22 in the contest.
Both teams came out with tons of energy early on as each squad took turns trading buckets. The Lancers finally got on a run, finishing the first quarter on a 10-1 run to open up a 20-11 lead after the first quarter. Kovacevic netted seven in the opening frame, with Clemencon adding six points and four rebounds.
Windsor was able to extend their lead in the second quarter thanks to improved ball movement in attacking the Gryphon’s zone defence. Once the ball movement improved, the Lancers were able to heat up from deep, draining four three-pointers in the second to turn a nine point lead into a 15 point halftime advantage.
Clemencon and LaRocque played big in the quarter, and led all scorers with 12 and 10 points respectively entering the break. Russell and Shortt led Guelph with six and five points each.
Guelph came out playing tough defence in the second quarter, and cut into the Lancers lead. Windsor held a 54-37 after the third quarter, and outscored the Gryphons 21-5 in the final frame for the win.
The Lancers will travel to Waterloo to take on the Warriors on Wednesday at 6:00pm.
Source: Lancers Athletics
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 4, 2012) - The Queen's Gaels (10-8) took control of the Royal Military College Paladins (0-18) this Saturday evening at the ARC. The final score of the game was 72-45.
The first quarter of action was close. The Gaels were only up by four at the break. In the second quarter the Gaels had a defensive spark, holding RMC to only 6 points and scoring 19 of their own. The second half was like the first, the Gaels extended their lead throughout to put the game out of reach for the Paladins. The final score of the game was 72-45.
The Gaels were again led by Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont. who had a game-high 21 points and moved into fourth on the OUA all-time scoring list with 1,603 career points. Moore passed former RMC standout Jennifer Donofrio who had 1,602 and now sits only 21 points behind Jodie Ebeling (Brock) who sits third and 23 points behind Amanda Anderson (Western) for second all-time.
Rachael Urosevic of Waterloo, Ont. added 12 points for the Gaels going 4-7 from beyond the arc.
The Gaels are back in action next Friday versus the University of Ottawa Gee Gees. Tipoff is set for 6:00 at the ARC.
The women's basketball team completed a weekend sweep over the Waterloo Warriors, winning 70-58 on Saturday evening.
Guards Kelsey Bardsley (Manchester, UK) and Ayse Kalkan (Winnipeg, MB) were Lakehead's top scorers, with 20 and 21 points, respectively. Both found their stroke from outside, as Bardsley went 5 for 10 from downtown, and Kalkan 2 of 4. Kalkan would also add 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals to her final stat line, and Bardsley dished out 6 assists.
Waterloo's leading scorer was Laura Bossers with 16 (4-of-5 from distance), and Colleen Quinlan had 13.
Coach Jon Kreiner: "Tonight Waterloo did a great job against our posts and it was Kelsey Bardsley and Ayse Kalkan that needed to step up for us. Lindsay Inkila also played her best game of the OUA season gathering 5 offensive rebounds, 4 assists and 0 turnovers and really played smart against Waterloo's press. We are now in a playoff battle that can see us 4th-7th and we have to find a way to play more consistently for 40 minutes."
With the win the women move to 9-9 on the season and are tied with McMaster and Western for 4th place in the OUA West.
Source: Thunderwolves Athletics
The No. 6 nationally ranked Carleton University Ravens women’s basketball team edged the No. 5 uOttawa Gee-Gees 71-63 in a showdown that went the distance at the Ravens’ Nest Saturday night.
But Carleton dominated in overtime, outscoring Ottawa 12-4 thanks in large part to Krista Van Slingerland (Waterloo, Ont.), who had nine points in the extra frame.
The Ravens led for long stretches of the first three quarters of the game with Alyson Bush (Ottawa) and Van Slingerland leading Carleton with eight points each after the first half of action. They took a 32-23 lead into halftime.
The Ravens struggled containing Hannah Sunley-Paisley (Toronto) as she dominated beneath the Ravens basket, racking up the points. She would finish with a game-high 26 points.
Gee-Gee Bess Lennox (Ottawa) had 11 points and 15 rebounds.
Van Slingerland paced the Ravens with 24 points.
With the win, Carleton snapped Ottawa’s 15-game win streak and improved to 13-5 for second place in the OUA East – two points ahead of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
Carleton is next in action on the road against the RMC Paladins on Feb. 10. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.
Source: Ravens Athletics
