By Tristan Forde
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s basketball team lost 63-65 in a neck-and-neck game against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday night at Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
Each team entered the game with wins in their back pocket. The Bold prevailed over the Waterloo Warriors on Nov. 23, while the Gee-gees emerged victorious over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Nov. 29. In a game where only one team could keep a streak going into the winter break, the Bold fell just short.
“There were some great moments at team basketball where we were defending together, sharing the ball, those types of things…just overall proud of the energy we played with,” said head coach Carly Clarke.
The Bold entered the game expecting a difficult game against the second-ranked team in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division. Early on in the game, fourth-year forward Haley Fedick scored the first points of the game for the Bold, earning them an early lead.
Fourth-year Gee-Gees guard/forward Allie McCarthy retaliated with a layup, setting the stage for Ottawa to do an excellent job of tailing right behind the Bold all game. Eventually, this gave them the opportunity to catch up and break past the Bold towards the end of the game.
“We’ve practiced those situations a lot so just try and recall some of the things that we have in our playbook,” said Clarke.
The Bold struggled to break through the Gee-Gees defence in the first quarter, after which they spent much of the game passing the ball around looking for openings in the defence to score. But the Gee-Gees made it especially difficult with their defensive actions. Fourth-year forward Emily Payne—who finished the game with seven rebounds, two steals and three blocks—was the standout defender for Ottawa.
“There were some great moments of team basketball where we were defending together, sharing the ball”
Bold’s strongest offensive focal point was fifth-year guard Kaillie Hall, who scored 21 points to top the charts as the highest-scoring player in this game. The Hamilton, Ont. product scored 10 out of 12 of her free throw attempts and managed five rebounds.
“It’s just kind of more my mentality as a guard, just trying to get downhill and find different openings for us,” said Hall.
Breaking through the Gee-Gees defence was the main focus of the Bold. One of the main methods that Hall has for scoring for the Bold is drawing fouls off of the other team. Her confident skills at the free throw line make her a consistent option for the Bold to score.
“She’s leading the country in free throw attempts and free throws made. She’s utilizing her strength and speed really well. That’s a huge part of our team’s success,” said Clarke.
Hall is currently the OUA leader in free throw points and attempts with 94 attempts and 74 points. The runner-up, fourth-year guard/forward Madalyn Weinart for the Brock Badgers, has 52 attempts with 45 points.
Fedick was also a very consistent scoring option for the Bold. She drilled 11 points and picked up four rebounds.
Gee-Gees lead the game 17-15.
In the second quarter, the Bold managed to widen the gap little by little. A jump shot from second-year guard Catrina Garvey kept TMU in the lead but it wasn’t long until the Gee-Gees managed to play catch up.
TMU slowed down the game and focused more on teamplay, passing the ball around and looking for opportunities to score. A well-timed pass interception from fifth-year forward Callie Wright led to a layup and a point.
“I feel like collectively, we did a really good job of just sharing the ball and getting deeper into our offences, which allowed us to find openings all around,” said Hall.
A large part of the Gee-Gees game was organized through fifth-year point guard Natsuki Szczokin. She led the Gee-Gees not only on the court but also in scoring, sharing the lead with Payne at 15 points.
“We did a really good job of just sharing the ball and getting deeper into our offences, which allowed us to find openings all around”
After returning from half-time, the Gee-Gees cranked their play up and easily blitzed through the Bold, ultimately scoring twice in the span of thirty seconds. Free throws by Payne and second-year forward Victoria Brideau put the Gee-Gees in the lead by one point.
At both ends of the court, the Gee-Gees backline picked up the vast majority of rebounds, allowing them to create more offensive plays.
“[Ottawa] averages over 70 points a game, and our goal was to hold them under 65 today,” said Clarke.
The Gee-Gees took the lead from the Bold in the fourth quarter. Both teams capitalized on their defence by not allowing the other to breach the paint and score but Ottawa’s passing play and teamwork sealed the deal.
Once Ottawa carried the lead, a crucial three-pointer from fourth-year Jayme Foreman allowed the Bold to tie up the game 63-63.
With a tie score and just under a minute left, tensions were high in the gym. Ultimately Gee-Gees managed to regain the lead after Wright fouled Szczokin. The Barrie, Ont. product scored both of her free throws and secured a 65-63 win for Ottawa.
“The players have worked really, really hard this first semester, and when we get back after Christmas. We’ll dial into that game plan, but it’ll be similar, really compete-based,” said Clarke.
UP NEXT: The Bold will return after the holidays to play the undefeated Carleton Ravens on Jan. 11 at the MAC. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.