AROUND OUA: Warriors off to hot start in New Year with big win over Gee-Gees

SCOREBOARD

Ottawa 50 @ Waterloo 66

Brock 56 @ Laurentian 64

Queen's 69 @ Western 49

Lakehead 66 @ Ryerson 69

Guelph 70 @ Toronto 77

York 46 @ Windsor 80

Carleton 71 @ Laurier 60

McMaster 89 @ Nipissing 36

Warriors off to hot start in New Year with big win over Gee-Gees

It was one of Waterloo's most complete games in a couple of years as the black and gold kicked off 2017 with an impressive 66-50 win over the Ottawa Gee Gees on Friday night at the PAC.  

Four of Waterloo's five starters reached double digits in points as Waterloo improved to 3-5 on the season.  The loss was Ottawa's second of the season as the visitors fell to 4-2.

Waterloo's fourth year guard, Emily Wilk (Oakville) led the offensive charge with 16 points going an impressive 5-for-11 from the field with three hoops from downtown.  Rookie guard Sydney Wilson (Guelph) also had a strong contest with 14 points while Kristen Osborne (Markham) was as effective with 14 of her own.  Jenel Ulman (Hamilton) rounded out an impressive performance by the starters with 11, which included eight trips to the line.  

On the boards, Waterloo was dominant, out rebounding Ottawa 39-22.  Sofie Persson (Lomma) led the way with nine boards while Wilson had seven.  

Ottawa's top point getters were Danielle Marion and Amelie Hachey each tallying 10 points.

Source: Waterloo Warriors

Badgers drop tough game on road to open 2017

SUDBURY, ON - The Brock University women's basketball team dropped a 64-56 decision to the Laurentian Voyageurs Friday night on the road.

Brock led 27-26 at the half. In the third quarter, Brock led 32-31 with six minutes remaining, before Laurentian put together a 13-2 run to close out the quarter, leading 44-34 after 30 minutes.

In the final quarter, the Badgers would bring it to within five, 45-40, with seven minutes remaining, but that was as close as they would come, dropping their fourth straight contest.

Kira Cornelissen (Alymer, ON) led the Badgers offense finishing with 16 points and five rebounds. Bridget Atkinson (Welland, ON) added 11 points and four boards while Melissa Tatti (Ancaaster, ON), Jessica Morris (Guelph, ON) and Alex Symonds (Pelham, ON) chipped in with nine, eight and seven points respectively.

Laurentian had all five starters in double figures led by Emily Tinnes and L'Ashante Henry who registered 12 points each. Tinnes also handed out 10 assists for the double-double.

For the game, Brock shot 37.7% (20-for-53) from the field, 16.7% (2-for-12) from long range and 63.6% (14-for-22) from the free throw line. The Voyageurs went 24-for-49 (49.0%) from the floor including 4-for-11 (36.4%) from three-point land and 12-for-18 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.  

The Badgers return to action Saturday night at 6pm as they take on the Nipissing Lakers on the road.

Source: Brock Badgers

No. 5 Gaels open New Year with 69-49 triumph over Mustangs

LONDON, Ont. (January 6, 2017)- The Queen's Gaels women's basketball team opened up the New Year with a convincing road victory, toppling the Western Mustangs 69-49 at Alumni Hall on Friday night.

GAME FLOW
The U Sports No. 5 ranked Gaels improved their unblemished conference record to 7-0 with the victory and are 4-0 as the road team. Queen's was led by Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.), who tallied a game-high 15 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the field and tallying nine rebounds. Veronika Lavergne (Kingston, Ont.) picked up 12 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Gaels, while Emily Hazlett (Fredericton, N.B.) added 10 points and three steals.

Robyn Pearson (Toronto) recorded a game-high 14 rebounds for the Gaels, who brought down 49 boards compared to 25 for the Mustangs. The former included 18 offensive boards, which the women turned into 19 second-chance points to go along with 28 bench points. The Gaels shot 38.5% (25-65), compared to 34.8% (16-46) from the hosts who were led by a 15-point performance from a Julia Curran.

Including a holiday break schedule that saw the Gaels go 2-1 at the Thunder Selects CIS Holiday Classic in Halifax, the women have won nine of their last 10 contests, and lead the OUA with an average of 76.4 points per game.

BY THE NUMBERS
4- The number of games in which Andrea Priamo has tallied 10 or more points, and in which Robyn Pearson has recorded 10 or more rebounds
6- The teams combined for six three-pointers during Friday's contest. Queen's drained five, while Western tallied one.

UP NEXT
The Gaels continue their journey west on Saturday when they head to Windsor to take on the Lancers. The women return to Kingston next weekend to host the Ryerson Rams and Toronto Varsity Blues at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC).

Source: Queen's Gaels

Rams outlast Thunderwolves for 7th straight win

TORONTO - The No. 6 nationally ranked Ryerson Rams women's basketball team outlasted a defensively sound Lakehead Thunderwolves squad to record a 69-66 victory and pick up their seventh straight conference win.

Sofia Paska (Etobicoke, Ont.) led the Rams offensively with 18 points while the backcourt duo of Kellie Ring (Ottawa, Ont.) and Cara Tiemens (Newmarket, Ont.) was instrumental with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Both teams struggled to maintain momentum throughout the contest, leading to an entertaining, back-and-forth affair. Lakehead jumped out to an early lead and it took until the 7:43 mark of the first quarter for the Rams to take their first lead at 17-15. Ryerson closed the quarter with a 20-15 advantage.

The Rams looked to be in control in the second quarter as they continued to settle into their offence while executing better at the defensive end. Ryerson doubled up the Thunderwolves 18-9 in the second stanza to hold a 38-24 lead at the break.

In the third quarter the teams traded baskets until a late 10-0 run by the Thunderwolves closed the gap to just four points. Ryerson's Nicole DiDomenico (Niagara Falls, Ont.) hit a three-pointer to round out the quarter's scoring with the Rams holding onto a 52-45 lead.

The Rams looked to be in control midway through the fourth as Ryerson extended their lead to nine points at 64-55 on a pair of C'airah Gabriel-Robinson (Mississauga, Ont.) free throws with 2:32 remaining. From there, Lakehead's three point shooting pulled them back into contention.

Nikki Ylagan connected from long range with 1:00 remaining to make it a five point game. After a great effort from Ryerson's Ring killed 20 seconds and made the score 67-60, Lakehead's Bridget O'Reilly was the next to hit from downtown with 13 seconds left.

Now a four-point game, the Rams had the chance to take more time off the clock but an offensive foul before the ball had been inbounded gave the Thunderwolves another opportunity to inch closer, and Ylagan connected again to pull within one at 67-66. 

That was as close as Lakehead would come, however, as Ring was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play with just 2.5 seconds remaining and she converted both attempts to finalize the 69-66 victory for the Rams.

Ryerson improves to 7-1 on the season while Lakehead drops to 2-6. The Rams are back in action on Saturday night when they host the Guelph Gryphons starting at 6:00 on OBA Night. That game will be live on OUA.tv and Rogers TV Toronto.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Trio of Blues shine in win over Gryphons

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's basketball team opened the winter semester with a 77-70 victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Friday, January 6 at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
 
With the win, the Blues improve to 5-4 and remain in third place in the OUA East, while the Gryphons drop to 1-6 and sit fourth in the Central division.
 
Diedre Edwards notched 17 points, matching her career-high performance, while also adding eight rebounds and three steals. Fellow fourth-year guard Rahshida Atkinson also had a team-high 17 points, adding five boards, two assists and two steals on the night.
 
Second-year forward Charlotte Collyer also matched her career-high, tallying 16 points and adding a game-high nine rebounds and three steals. Sarah Bennett recorded eight points and five boards, with Emily Piccini adding seven points, six assists and four rebounds in the victory.
 
Collyer got the Blues out to an early lead but the Gryphons rallied and the two teams were deadlocked at 24-24 after the first quarter. The Blues took the lead, opening the second quarter on a 7-0 run, and, thanks to a 10-point quarter from Atkinson, Toronto built a 43-36 advantage at halftime.
 
Hayley Belyk and Ashley Wheeler led a 10-0 Gryphons streak to open the second half on a 10-0 run to take the lead and the Blues played catch up from there. A Collyer and one gave U of T a narrow 57-56 lead at the end of the third quarter. Both teams exchanged baskets early in the fourth quarter but six points from Edwards pulled the Blues ahead for good.   
     
Belyk led all players with 22 points and added four boards, three assists and two steals for the Gryphons in the loss.
 
The Varsity Blues are back in action tomorrow night as they host the Lakehead Thunderwolves at Goldring Centre. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. Advance tickets are on sale at varsityblues.ca/tickets.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Lancers dominate Lions

The No. 7 Lancer women's basketball team defeated the York Lions 80-46 to open 2017 at the St. Denis Centre. 

Windsor dominated the Lions, allowing only 6 points in the first quarter and 11 in the second to lead 36-17 at the half. The Lancers held the Lions to a slim 27.3% field goal percentage and just a trio of three point shots in the half. 

The Lions came out strong in the second half and almost doubled their score in the third quarter, and improved their field goal percentage to 37.2%. The push was not enough however, as the Lancers continued to control the game right to the final buzzer. 

Windsor was led by Emily Prevost with 14 points and 5 rebounds, while Caitlyn Longmuir contributed 13 points and 4 assists. The Lions wer eled by Ishanna Seupersadsingh with 12 points and 2 rebounds. 

The Lancers will host the Queen's Gaels tomorrow night at 6:00pm at the St. Denis Centre. The game can be seen live at oua.tv.

Source: Windsor Lancers

Shorthanded Ravens soar over Golden Hawks

WATERLOO, ON — The Ravens women's basketball team secured a key road victory to begin 2017, as Carleton took care of business with a 71-60 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks at the Waterloo Athletic Complex on Friday.

BOX SCORE

Although the Ravens were playing without the services of OUA All-Star Elizabeth Leblanc (London, ON) and starter Nicole Gilmore (Hamilton, ON), a phenomenal effort from senior forward Heather Lindsay (Ottawa, ON) and her career-high 34 points were enough to get past a determined Laurier team.

The Ravens trailed early in the game, as Laurier jumped out to an 11-4 advantage midway through the first.  Carleton replied with a scoring run of its own to tie the game before taking command to grab an 18-15 lead after one. Heather Lindsay found room in the paint against her undersized opponents and went to work by scoring nine points in the opening ten minutes.

With Laurier's defence helpless against Carleton's game plan to attack on the inside, the Ravens continued to feed Lindsay the rock down low. The 6-foot-3 forward scored all of Carleton's 13 second-quarter points to give the Ravens a 31-29 halftime edge heading into the locker room.

Up two entering the third, Carleton would eventually build a seven-point cushion, but the 'Hawks refused to be grounded as they pursued the nation's No.2 team throughout the third quarter.  Laurier closed the deficit to one point, 44-43, at the 01:45 mark of the frame, but a late attack by Carleton put them up six, 51-45, with ten minutes to play.

Down but not out, Laurier caught fire early in the fourth as the Golden Hawks went on an 8-0 scoring run to retake the lead, 53-51. Soon after, Ravens forward Catherine Traer (Chelsea, QC) scored two quick baskets as the momentum shifted back into the visitor's favour. Carleton's own 8-0 scoring run gave the Ravens a 62-54 upper hand, and they would go on to make their free throws down the stretch to pick up two points and move to 5-1 in OUA regular season play.

Coming into the game, Laurier's offence ranked second in the conference, but Carleton was up to the challenge of limiting the Golden Hawks by holding them to fifteen points below their regular-season scoring average. The Ravens had an astounding 13 blocked shots in the game, including five from Traer, three from Lindsay and three from junior forward Brianne Hamilton (Mississauga, ON).

Carleton point guard Jenjen Abella (Hamilton, ON) chipped in with 15 points for the Ravens, while Laurier's Kaitlyn Schenck buoyed her side with a team-high 19 points.

The Ravens will remain in Waterloo to take on the Warriors in the second game of their road trip tomorrow at the PAC Gymnasium starting at 6 p.m.

Source: Carleton Ravens

Marauders cruise past Lakers

The McMaster women's basketball team showed no rust after the holiday break in their game against the Nipissing Lakers Friday evening. Mac was clicking on both ends of the floor and came out with an impressive 89-36 victory.
 
The Lakers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead three minutes into the game. However, the Marauders finished the quarter on a 20-1 run to lead 22-7 after the first quarter.
 
The  imposing run by McMaster was just beginning, as Mac was able to hold the Lakers to just a single point in the second quarter -- a free throw scored with three minutes to go before half.  With 18 points of their own, the Marauders were able to take a commanding 40-8 lead going into the second half.
 
The Lakers began hitting shots in the third quarter, but the McMaster lead only grew larger as they continued to knock down shot after shot. The Marauders never took their foot off the gas going into the fourth, extending their lead to 53 by the end of the game.
 
Mac shot an impressive 54% (37 of 68) from the field including 40% (10 of 25) from three-point range. The Marauders were able to hold the Lakers to just a single three pointer all game. McMaster forced 32 Nipissing turnovers leading to 45 points for the Maroon.
 
Danielle Boiago led the Marauders in scoring with 25 points and also contributed four steals. Vanessa Pickard provided a spark off the bench scoring 13 points on 5 of 7 from the field including three triples.
 
The Marauders will now head to Sudbury for a Saturday clash against the Laurentian Voyageurs.
 
The game can be streamed online at 6-pm on oua.tv

Source: McMaster Marauders