Friday, January 9
Brock 55 @ Lakehead 65
The women's basketball team came away with a victory to begin the new year, 65-55 over the Brock Badgers.
The Badgers showed their claws in the first quarter, as seven players on their roster scored, totalling 20 points to Lakehead's 13, scored by just three Thunderwolves. Jylisa Williams started under heavy guard by the Badgers, scoring 4 points in the opening quarter. She would find her rhythm in the second Q, scoring 11 and grabbing 4 rebounds to drive the 'Wolves back in front, 37-32 at the break.
Brock started out hot again to start the second half, drawing even with Lakehead within the first few minutes. As time elapsed and baskets became harder to come by, the Thunderwolves needed an answer, and got one in Katie Ulakovic, who hit two consecutive threes in the fourth quarter to push Lakehead ahead for good.
Lakehead's defense was the driving force in their win, forcing 24 Brock turnovers. The Badgers shot 42% from the floor to Lakehead's 33%. Lakehead also got to the free throw line 20 times to Brock's meagre 3 attempts.
Williams finished with a game high 24 points and 11 rebounds. Ulakovic scored 13 points and Katelyn Andrea rounded things out for the 'Wolves with 10. Essa Jacobsen returned to the lineup and grabbed 10 rebounds.
For Brock, Jenalyn Yumol scored an efficient 13 points, going 6-of-8 from the field.
Coach Jon Kreiner: "We won a tough defensive battle where we struggled to score but played stifling defence. We struggled in the first Q but held Brock to 35 over the next three and forced Brock to turn it over. That and Offensive rebounding gave us the extra possessions we needed to score on a tough shooting night. Fifth year Katie Ulakovic stepped up huge tonight on both ends of the court while sophomore forward Katelyn Andrea is rounding into a very consistent CIS player."
Algoma 51 @ Waterloo 85
The Waterloo Warriors re-opened OUA league action with a strong 85-51 win over the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds on Friday night. Eleven players hit the score sheet as all 12 players saw at least five minutes of action. Four Warriors were in double figures, led by Jacqui Rodrigues (Waterloo) with 16 points and Madison Behr (Ancaster) with 14.
Play was close in the first half as both teams shot over 46% and neither team was able to establish a consistent lead. Algoma did have an 8 point run near the end of the first quarter and Waterloo responded with a 7 point run to start the second. At half time the score was just a four point margin for Waterloo at 36-32.
Waterloo started the second half with forced turnovers and good shooting and a 16 point run gave them a 20 point lead with only four minutes gone in the half. Algoma never got the margin under 10 again and Waterloo extended the lead in the fourth quarter by allowing just 5 Algoma points in the final period. Waterloo shot 49% for the game. Forcing 33 Algoma turnovers led to a wide margin in shot attempts at 70 to 45. The Warriors also held the rebounding edge at 31-24.
Others in double figures for Waterloo were Amy Jarvis (Burlington) with 13 points and Emily Wilk (Oakville) with 11. Elizabeth Holmes (Welland) hit three straight three point field goals in the final quarter. For Algoma, Laura Meadows led all scorers with 18 points and Sydney Resch added 16 points.
Nipissing 34 @ Queen's 90
Fresh off the winter break, the Gaels (5-3) grabbed an outstanding 90-34 victory against the Nipissing Lakers (0-7) on Friday night in their first game of the New Year.
The Gaels were led by Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) who scored 15 points. Maddie Morris (Seeley's Bay, Ont.), Robyn Pearson (Toronto) and Emily Hazlett (Fredericton, N.B.) had strong showings for the Gaels each putting in 12 points. Despite their loss, Claire Abbott led all scorers for the Lakers with 20 points.
The Gaels got out in front right away, scoring seven points holding off the Lakers until halfway through the first quarter. Shots from the Lakers began to find the basket as the quarter closed but the Gaels stayed ahead by six going into the second. With Wright driving their offence, the Gaels picked it up from the outside and pulled away with a 16-3 run to double their opponents who received 19 turnovers in just the first half.
With a 51-19 lead to go into the second half, the Gaels continued to dominate the court and left the Lakers in their dust, outscoring them 20-9 and leading by 43 points for the last quarter of play. Abbott kept the Lakers energy high in the final frame even as the Gaels pulled out of Nipissing's reach, ending the game with a 90-34 victory.
"The feeling is that the offence is fickle," said Coach Dave Wilson as the team prepares for Laurentian Saturday. "If you're not making your shots, you need to be able to play really tough defence to limit the good opportunities that the opponent gets. If we take care of the defensive end of the floor, hopefully they won't get the chance to get their shots off."
Queen's raised over $3,100 in their annual Shoot for the Cure night and five members of the Gaels team also cut their hair in support of the cause.
Laurentian 84 @ York 65
The York University Lions women's basketball team returned for the winter term with a loss to the Laurentian Voyageurs by a score of 84-65 on Friday (Jan. 9) at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
Jackie Koudys (Smithville, Ont.) scored the first basket for the Lions through a free throw. The veteran guard continued to lead the offensive line for the Lions, scoring a three-pointer at the brink of the shot-clock.
The Voyageurs took the lead through their inside shots while the Lions suffer a mini drought with their long shot attempts. Erin Sarapnickas (Wallaceburg, Ont.) broke the drought at 9-7.
The visiting team increased the pressure, scoring consecutive baskets to take the lead at 20-9. Courtney Osborne (Markham, Ont.) drove through the middle of opposing defenders to keep the Lions in the game, and they chipped away to trail by a score of 20-16 at the end of one.
Shots from downtown rocketed the Lions into the lead. Nina Guzina (Etobicoke, Ont.), Haley Bowie (Ancaster, Ont.) and Koudys contributed baskets as the Lions took the lead for the first time at 30-29. The game remained tight until the end of the half, where the Lions trailed by just one at 38-37.
In the second half, the Lions opened with a flurry of three-point shots and built a six-point lead near the end of the frame, at 54-48. However, the Voyageurs went on an impressive run of 29 straight points, capitalizing on many mistakes by the Lions, to turn a 54-48 deficit into a 77-54 lead.
The visiting team continued its scintillating performance in the final quarter, disallowing the Lions to score for over half of the quarter. Rookie guard Erika Diloreto (London, Ont.) broke the visitors' scoring streak after three consecutive attempts under the ring, but the Lions still trailed by double digits.
The introduction of Hayley Finn (London, Ont.) injected new energy to the Lions. However, it was not enough for the Lions to catch up to the Voyageurs, who went on to win by 19.
Koudys finished with a team-high 18 points, while Osborne had 17 points and added six rebounds. For the Voyageurs, Devenae Bryce had a huge game with 28 points as well as three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Carleton 48 @ Ottawa 53
In one of the odder games played this season, the uOttawa Gee-Gees found a way to hold on to defeat a tough Ravens team and establish themselves as OUA North division leaders.
A snail-paced offensive start gave way when the Gee-Gees finished off the last four minutes of the opening quarter with a 13-0 run to grab the early lead. The Gee-Gees would continue to attack and take advantage of Ravens' turnovers and mistakes to stretch their run out to 21-4 outscore them 29-21 by halftime after Carleton came back with a late surge.
The Ravens, a very good rebounding team, were only able to pull down four offensive rebounds in the first half which compounded their inability to score and establish a flow throughout most of the opening half.
Carleton came out as a different team in the second half to draw within three early, but couldn't entirely rein in the Gee-Gees. However, a solid shooting game in the first half didn't translate to the second for uOttawa as they weren't doing themselves any favours, missing free throws and countless easy points in close.
With seven minutes to go Abeer Farhat of Carleton hit a three to tie the game for the first time since five minutes into the first quarter. The Gee-Gees couldn't get clear by further than three points until 25 seconds remaining in the game when Stephanie MacDonald was fouled and subsequently sunk both free throws.
Farhat and follow starter Lindsay Shotbolt fouled out within a few minutes leaving a hole in the Ravens' lineup for the final comeback push.
"I was really happy with the effort our undersized posts put in," said Andy Sparks, Gee-Gees head coach. "We worked really hard on the low post and the high post and I think the pressure we put on those positions was really the difference in the game tonight. They wanted to establish a high-low game and we didn't let them do that. With the kids we had out, I thought the eight that played really did a great job." No Raven scored in double-digits on the night, with Ottawa limiting the duo of Shotbolt and Suprunchuk to seven points apiece.
"I love this rivalry. I think I had something to prove. I like to show up in the big games," said former Raven and current Gee-Gees guard, Krista Van Singerland. She finished with a game-high 16 points. "This is a great step forward. Obviously now we're top in our division. It's really about us and not other teams. Us continuing to do what we excel at from here on."
"Krista stepped up and Kellie Ring stepped up down the stretch," added Sparks. Overall, we gave up 48 points so the defensive end was pretty good in general. But, we've really got to shoot it better than that. The type of team we are, we need to make some shots and it was a bit of struggle."
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees
Saturday, January 10
McMaster 77 @ Ryerson 80
The No. 8 Ryerson Rams women's basketball team gutted out an 80-77 victory to knock off the No. 7 ranked McMaster Marauders on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Keneca Pingue-Giles (Winnipeg, Man.) netted a game-high 25 points to go along with nine rebounds and six assists to lead the Rams to victory.
"After our last two losses to Carleton and Toronto I think this one was a big confidence builder. Every other game from here on out is going to be a tough one and we have to be prepared to play those top teams," said Pingue-Giles at the end of the game.
Ryerson started hot from the floor, opening a 12-0 lead, and played solid defence to negate a McMaster basket until the 6:20 mark. The Rams held onto a ten point, 25-15 lead after ten minutes.
The Ryerson offence continued to click in the second quarter and 10-0 run in the middle of the frame sparked by back-to-back three pointers from Mariah Nunes(Ajax, Ont.) gave the Rams a commanding 41-24 lead.
McMaster got back to within 12 points near the end of the quarter but a buzzer beating deep three ball from Pingue-Giles sent the Rams to the locker room up 49-34.
As hot as the Rams offence was in the first half, Ryerson scuffled in the third quarter, posting just seven points. McMaster took full advantage and scored 20 of their own to erase the deficit and make it a 56-54 Ryerson advantage heading to the final frame.
The offensive woes were quickly erased in the fourth as Ryerson opened the quarter on a 15-3 run to establish a 71-57 lead with 5:35 to go. From there it was McMaster's turn to go on a run, scoring 17 of the next 23 points to once again erase the deficit and make it a one point game at 77-76 with 1:05 remaining.
With 0:26 left on the clock, Rams forward Sofia Paska (Etobicoke, Ont.) made one free throw to make it 78-76. On the ensuing possession, McMaster's Allyson Schweitzer was fouled and could only make one of two free throws, giving Ryerson the ball back with a one-point lead. Veteran Siki Jez (Kitchener, Ont.) was then fouled and calmly knocked down both her free throw attempts to seal the 80-77 victory for the Rams.
In addition to Pingue-Giles' performance, three other Rams reached double digits including Jez with 18 points and nine rebounds, Nunes with 13 points and Paska with ten points. Annie Sokoloff (North Vancouver, B.C.) had a game-high 12 rebounds.
"I think we had a few lapses here and there but that's expected against one of the top teams in the country," said head coach Carly Clarke on her team's performance. "We emphasized rebounding…and offensive execution (in practice this week) and I think we did a much better job of both those things today and they were a difference in the game."
McMaster was led by Hilary Hanka's 22 points while Danielle Boiago added 19 and Rachael Holmes finished with 12.
Laurier 67 @ Guelph 53
Saturday afternoon at the W.F. Mitchell Athletic Centre the Gryphon women's basketball team lost 67-53 to the Laurier Golden Hawks in what was the opening OUA game of the 2015 schedule for both teams. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 5-3 on the season, while the Golden Hawks improve to 8-1.
The game got off to a sluggish start as both teams traded turnovers and defensive stands. Katelyn Yallin (Port Colborne, ON) made an immediate impact hitting a huge three right after being subbed into the game to give the Gyrphons a spark. The first quarter ended with Laurier holding a slim 13-10 lead. The start of the second saw the Golden Hawks push their lead to ten as they went on a 9-2 run. The Gryphons were able to mount a comeback on the shoulders of Vanessa Rampado (Niagara Falls, ON) and Bridget Atkinson (Welland, ON) and trim the deficit to just three at the break as Laurier led 28-25 going into the half.
Atkinson continued her strong play in the third quarter adding another six points to her total as she helped the Gryphons take the lead. But that lead would not last long, as Laurier's 6-foot-3, fifth year centre Whitney Ellenor (Pickering, ON) was causing matchup problems all game long. Ellenor was an efficient six of nine from the field to finish with 15 points and seven rebounds. After three quarters of play, Laurier led 45-40.
In the fourth quarter, the Golden Hawks would pull away, outscoring the Gryphons 22-13 in the final frame. Despite the fact that Ellenor was sitting on four fouls, she continued to make a difference at both ends of the court.
Overall, it was a rough shooting night for the Gryphons who hit just one three pointer in the game and shot just 29% from the field overall. Katherine MacTavish (Waterloo, Ont.) was the Gryphons leading scorer with 15 points on seven of 18 shooting, while Bridget Atkinson finished with 14 points.
Laurentian 62 @ Queen's 89
Veteran guard Liz Boag(Kingston, Ont.) was on fire Friday night as she led all the Gaels (6-3) with 19 points in their 89-62 win against the Laurentian Voyageurs (4-5).
Boag led all scorers with her performance and Emily Hazlett(Fredericton, N.B) was a force to be reckoned with on the court as well, chalking up 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds. The Gaels also had big nights from Robyn Pearson (Toronto) with 12 points, Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.) with 10 points and rookieMarianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont.) also with 10 points. The Voyageurs were led by Devenae Bryce and Adrienne Moreau both of whom scored 12 points.
It was a slow offensive start for both teams but the Gaels set up strong defence and kept the Voyageurs from infiltrating their key. As play continued the Gaels started to hit a rhythm from outside the arc to end the first quarter with a 26-9 lead over the Voyageurs. Boag drove the Gaels forward offensively in the second quarter as they outscored the Voyageurs 29-8. Laurentian struggled to break through the Gaels defence and headed into the second half down 55-17.
After halftime the Voyageurs began to find their footing as they matched the Gaels in scoring in the third quarter and slowed the Queen's momentum. As they headed into the final quarter the Gaels were leading by a 39 point margin which the Voyageurs managed to shrink down to a 28 point lead as they hit an 11-0 run. With their improved shooting performance, the Voyageurs outshot the Gaels in the quarter hit a clutch three pointer in the last seconds of play, but, it wasn't nearly enough to catch the Gaels who claimed the 89-62 win.
"In the first half, I think we did a really good job defensively," said guard Liz Boag on the win. "They didn't get off a three point shot which was definitely our goal and that really fueled our offence. We kind of took our foot off the pedal in the second half, but it was a pretty good effort overall."
Source: Queen's Gaels
Nipissing 33 @ York 54
The York University Lions women's basketball team defeated the Nipissing Lakers 54-33 Saturday night (Jan. 10) at the Tait McKenzie Centre for its first victory of 2015.
Taylor Ross (Cookstown, Ont.) and Courtney Osborne (Markham, Ont.) both played an exceptional game scoring 14 points and 13 points, respectively. Ross was also tremendous on the glass, pulling down a game-high 19 rebounds. Lakers shooting guard Maeve Therriault also played a strong game, scoring a total of 16 points.
Ishanaa Seupersadsingh (Markham, Ont.) opened the game in the first 12 seconds with a three-pointer. The Lions continued to rein over the Lakers with four more three-pointers from Nina Guzina (Etobicoke, Ont.), Osborne and Emma Thompson (London, Ont.). Besides two free-throw shots from Guzina, the Lions scored all of their 17 points of the first quarter from three-point jump shots. The Lakers trailed behind with 12 points by the end of the first.
The second quarter resulted in minimal scoring with six points scored in total from both sides. Seupersadsingh put up two shots, while the Lakers' Samantha Therrien scored two free throws. The second quarter ended with a score of 21-14 with the Lions still in the lead.
In the third quarter, Ross grabbed every ball under the net, adding eight straight points to the scoreboard, with three of those baskets coming on second-chance points after an offensive rebound. Erin Sarapnickas (Wallaceburg, Ont.) added three points from a jump shot, while Osborne added one from a free throw. The Lions ended the quarter with 33 points over the Lakers' 21 points.
The Lions dominated the fourth quarter, scoring a total of 21 points, while the Lakers only scored 12. Osborne greatly assisted the attack with nine points in the quarter. Ross also aided the Lions' offence in the fourth with six points, helping the Lions win by 21 points.
The win was their second of the year, improving their record to 2-6. The Lakers, who are in their inaugural season in the OUA, fell to 0-7 with the loss.
Algoma 39 @ Waterloo 72
The Waterloo Warriors led from start to finish and had 11 players scoring in a comfortable 72-39 win over the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds on Saturday night.
Rookie Amy Jarvis (Burlington) led the way with 14 points while Mackenzie Lougheed (Owen Sound) and Jacqui Rodrigues (Waterloo) scored 12 each. All 12 players had at least one rebound, with Marti Killeen (Oakville) leading with that category with 7.
Waterloo kept Algoma off the score sheet for the first 7 minutes of the game and had an 8-0 lead before the first Algoma score. By the end of the first quarter, Waterloo had a ten point lead at 17-7. The second period was played closer with both teams spending plenty of time at the free throw line. At half time, Waterloo held a 34-20 lead and was shooting 50% for the first half.
Waterloo started the second half very similar to the night before, going on a 14-0 run to extend the lead to 28 points. Algoma was not able to make a consistent run and Waterloo closed out the game with a 33 point margin.
Algoma only dressed seven players for the game and was led by Laura Meadows with 18 points and Alyssa Dovigi with 13.
The Warriors shot 42% for the game and held Algoma to just 26% shooting, The Warriors also out-rebounded the guests 47-25.
Brock 58 @ Lakehead 75
Jylisa Williams was on her torrid pace once again, this time scoring 31 points to lead the Thunderwolves to a 75-58 win over the Brock Badgers.
But it was far from a one-woman show, as Lakehead's bench stepped up, along with the rest of the starters to propel the 'Wolves (6-3) into first place in the OUA Central division.
Lakehead started off strong, scoring 20 points in the first quarter, but would have the Badgers crank up the defense. The 'Wolves would do the same, and the teams drew even after 20 minutes, 30-30.
The third quarter would be the beginning of Brock's undoing, as Lakehead put up 21 points and limited Brock to 7 points, 5 of them late in the quarter from Alexandra Symonds.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the fourth quarter as Brock tried their best, but had no answer for Williams, who finished with 31 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Katelyn Andrea had a complete game, scoring 10 with 9 rebounds and 6 assists, and fellow front court Essa Jacobsen was 8-of-9 from the field for 16 points. Corina Bruni, the OUA's leader in assists, made 9 on Saturday.
Katelyn Zen came off the bench to grab 8 rebounds and score 4 points in 18 minutes of work.
Rookie Melissa Tatti was impressive for the Badgers, scoring 18, while post Katie Harpur scored 10 points with 7 rebounds.
Coach Jon Kreiner:
"Our third quarter was the difference in the game. We were great in the second and third defensively and moved the ball well on offence distributing 22 team assists with four players in double figures. Corina Bruni did a great job getting the offense going while Katelyn Andrea once again stepped up with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Jylisa Williams is getting so much attention defensively and still finding ways to score and find her teammates and we have learned how to play off her."
