March 5, 2016

Rams defeat Western to advance to OUA Final Four

TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams women’s basketball team is headed back to the OUA Final Four championship following an 83-64 quarter-final victory over the Western Mustangs on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Western

Ryerson

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Western	6	17	20	21	64
Ryerson	21	22	15	25	83

TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams women's basketball team is headed back to the OUA Final Four championship following an 83-64 quarter-final victory over the Western Mustangs on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

BOXSCORE

Siki Jez (Kitchener, Ont.) had a game-high 22 points and team-high eight rebounds to lead the Rams while Keneca Pingue-Giles (Winnipeg, Man.) poured in 21 points, eight assists, four steals and three rebounds.

The Rams got out to a commanding start in the opening quarter and led 21-6 after ten minutes, a decisive ten minutes in the minds of the Rams.

"I thought the start was really good," said Pingue-Giles after the game. "We really prepared for (their) zone (defence) because they zoned U of T on Wednesday for the full 40 minutes…and we were able to find the open gaps."

"All week we had been emphasizing the defensive end of the floor and preparing that way and I thought we had great energy and discipline defensively early and that really set the tone for the game," added head coach Carly Clarke.

Ryerson's tenacious defence continued in the second quarter which helped the Rams extend their lead by five more heading into halftime. At the break the Rams led 43-23.

Western opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run and started to whittle the deficit down. The visitors outscored Ryerson by five in the quarter to make the score 58-43 after 30 minutes.

Despite some success from three point territory for the Rams early in the fourth, Western hung around and made it just a 10-point spread at 74-64 with 1:40 left. Out of a timeout the Rams exploded for six quick points to lead 80-64 with 50 seconds remaining and a great defensive play from Mariah Nunes (Ajax, Ont.) sealed the deal as Ryerson went on to take the 83-64 victory.

Western's Victoria Heine notched a double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds in the loss while Mackenzie Puklicz added 16 points and seven steals and Caroline Wolynski finished with 13 points.

"I like where we are; I think we're playing confident, we're playing together. There's no easy games anymore…we just have to take it one game at a time," said Clarke on moving forward to the Final Four.

The Rams will travel to Ottawa next weekend to face the Windsor Lancers in the Critelli Cup semifinal. The host Gee-Gees will play the McMaster Marauders in the other semifinal. Stay tuned to ryersonrams.ca for all the playoff information.