Women’s basketball ram Ryerson, sing blues to U of T

Queen’s defeat No.2 ranked Rams 80-74, Toronto 57-33

The Gaels sit atop the OUA standings.
Image supplied by: Journal File Photo
The Gaels sit atop the OUA standings.

Despite a controversial call at a pivotal time in Saturday’s game against the No. 2 Ryerson Rams, women’s basketball came out victorious 80-74 for their second victory in as many nights. 

A foul, called originally against Ryerson, was reversed and called against Queen’s. It was called against Jenny Wright, her fifth foul of the night.

“The ref came over and told her that she had to leave the game,” head coach Dave Wilson said.

There was 40 seconds left in the game, and the Gaels were ahead by only seven points.

“Ryerson took a foul shot,” Wilson said, “and I questioned the official about how, not only could they change which team the foul was on, but they called the foul on a player that was 15 feet away from the play at the time.”

“So they reconvened, and changed the call, and changed it to put the foul on Andrea Priamo, which allowed Jenny to come back in … and then the game proceeded from there.”

Ryerson missed one of two free throws, changing the lead to six. When the play resumed, the Rams hit a jumper, cutting it to a two-possession lead. There were 13 seconds remaining at this point, and the Gaels hadn’t scored in almost two minutes in comparison to the Rams’ eight points in that short time.

The Gaels milked 10 seconds off the clock, and they got lucky with a missed Rams layup off a turnover by Emily Hazlett. Andrea Priamo was fouled with three seconds to go, and shut the door by stretching the lead to six.

Despite the hubbub towards the end, the Gaels controlled the first three quarters against the Rams, holding as much to a 17-point lead. Leading up to the drama, Ryerson chipped away at the lead in the fourth quarter, cutting it to single digits with just 1:16 remaining. The Gaels gave up six turnovers in the fourth quarter, which Ryerson converted into eight points.

“We were careless with the ball in a couple of places. But for the most part I thought we handled the pressure pretty well,” Wilson said.

Jenny Wright scored 20 points in the victory against Ryerson, tying Liz Boag’s 1,055 career points and ranking second with Boag in the Queen’s all-time scoring list. Wright is looking more concentrated on basketball this semester after finishing her nursing comprehensives last November.

“She passed [them], did very well,” Wilson said “and so I think that’s a huge weight off of her shoulders at this point, and I think she’s going to really enjoy the second half of the season.”

Queen’s vs U of T

Queen’s dominated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday, limiting them to under 10 points in three of four quarters in the 57-33 win. These wins improved the team’s record to 8-1, which sits the top of the OUA after the weekend. 

Robyn Pearson had a monstrous performance in both games, claiming a double-double each night. Pearson is ranked first in the country in rebounds, averaging 12.4 per game. She snagged 20 rebounds against Toronto, while the Gaels outrebounded the Blues 61-32.

“[W]e had to stop them going to the boards,” Wilson said, “and when they didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, there’s going to be a lot of rebounds.”

Toronto converted just 17.9 per cent of their shots.

The Gaels, fresh off the winter break, learned a new defensive strategy after a week of training with Olympic coaches. This strategy was used against the Blues and the Rams, adding a new dimension to their team chemistry as neither team has seen this set before.

While some may have trouble after a break in the season, Wilson said their training regimen ensured that it wasn’t a problem getting back into the swing of things.

“It kept us pretty sharp and motivated,” Wilson said.

The team returns to Toronto this Saturday for a lone game against York.

Tags

Dave Wilson, Jenny Wright, women's basketball

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