Last weekend, the women’s basketball team closed out the calendar year on a high note, notching two home wins against the Guelph Gryphons and Brock Badgers.
The Gaels struggled to hold the lead in the first quarter on Friday night against the winless Gryphons, but eventually came out on top 11-8.
In the second quarter, the Gaels expanded their lead to 25-18 at the half.
Head coach Dave Wilson said his team was its own worst enemy.
“I thought we were beating ourselves even though we were up, but I think the real success Guelph had was more due to our errors than it was to their good play.”
The Gaels improved their play considerably in the second half, leaping to a 45-25 lead at the end of the third quarter. Despite being outscored in the final quarter, the Gaels held on for a 61-48 victory. “I thought we moved the ball … reasonably well, and it gave us opportunities on offense to get good looks at the hoop, even if it was an outside shot, but more often a penetration to the rim,” Wilson said. “And I think that’s what we did better. We were more aggressive going to the hoop.” On Saturday, the Gaels played a far tougher opponent in the Brock Badgers, who entered the game 6-2 on the season.
The teams traded leads throughout the first and second quarters, eventually finishing the half tied at 37.
The Gaels took control in the second half, finishing with a 71-58 victory.
Wilson said the team’s preparations paid off.
“I felt better about today’s game than yesterday,” he said. “We actually spent a fair amount of time in practice … working to prepare for this game, as opposed to Guelph yesterday, because we knew the style of play Brock uses, you aren’t going to adjust to in a morning shoot around.”
Third-year guard Brittany Moore led scoring with 21 points, while third-year wing Christine Wallace had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds as did fifth-year wing Katie Guthrie with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
“One of the reasons we were successful was because we spread [the scoring] a fair bit around,” Wilson said. “There’s no question [Brittany Moore] hit some critical shots for us, as she almost always does, but… it was a lot of people contributing to this one.”
The Gaels next game is at Royal Military College on Jan. 5, before returning to the PEC to close out Bartlett Gym on the weekend of Jan. 8 against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
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].