The women’s basketball team suffered a shocking 68-63 defeat to the Ottawa Gee-Gees Tuesday night at Bartlett Gym, dropping their record to 7-11. It was only the second win of the year for Ottawa: their other victory came Jan. 25 against the winless Royal Military College Paladins.
Head coach Dave Wilson said the loss was tough to swallow.
“It was disappointing how we played,” he said. “I didn’t think we were sharp in any aspect of our game. Any time you turn the ball over 20 times in a game is going to cause problems.”
It was a game of two halves for the Gaels. They led 33-32 at the midway point but were outscored 18-10 in the third quarter and never regained their momentum.
“We thought we’d made some adjustments to help take away what they were being successful with in the first half,” Wilson said. “In the second half, we turned the ball over a bit more and that just killed any momentum we were trying to build.”
Wilson said the team didn’t play with enough ion.
“I thought Ottawa did a very good job of exploiting our lack of intensity on defence,” he said. “Realistically speaking in this league, if you do not play with intensity, you’re going to have troubles. ”
The Gaels were hurt by some calls down the stretch, particularly a fifth foul called on starting point guard Teddi Firmi that forced her out of the game with five minutes left. But Wilson said the officiating wouldn’t have mattered if the team had played well enough.
“We got ourselves into a situation where calls could make themselves a factor,” he said. “If we played with the proper intensity and level that we’re capable of playing, it wouldn’t have been a factor.”
Wilson said Firmi’s loss hurt the team’s comeback chances.
“Teddi runs our offence really well and is a very, very effective defender,” he said. “Any time you lose a player of Teddi’s calibre, it’s certainly going to affect your performance.”
Wilson said this game should teach the Gaels they still need to prepare for weak opponents.
“We have to find a way to come prepared and energized to play every game,” he said. “Anything less than that, and we’re going to have difficulties, because the league’s tough.”
Firmi said she was disappointed in the referees.
“Not that we look to the refs for an excuse, but I don’t think the officiating was the best,” she said.
Firmi said focus and effort will be key for the Gaels in future games.
“As a team, and individually, we need to come out hard and come out prepared to win, and I don’t think we did that tonight,” she said. “We’re going to have to be confident, and go into every game as if it were Laurentian or Toronto, the really big games, and not take any weaker teams at a lower level. We need to be strong at every moment.”
Guard Brittany Moore led the Gaels with 18 points. Moore said the loss will teach the team to take every game seriously.
“We have to go into every game, and treat it like it’s our last, play really hard from the get-go and give it our all,” she said. “We’ve just got to have the mentality and go out like that every game. … I know Ottawa’s below us, but you just can’t go in thinking like that.”
The team hosts Laurentian University and York University Friday and Saturday. Both games take place at 6 p.m.
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].