Women’s Basketball
The ball tipped off at 6 p.m. on Feb. 28 in the ARC for the semi-final game against the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold, as the Queen’s Women’s Basketball team sought their ticket to the OUA Championship.
A three-pointer from Laura Donovan, Nurs ’24, kicked off the score sheet, but TMU played a close first quarter against the Gaels.
After a solid back-and-forth effort between the Gaels and the Bold, the Gaels led 16-11 going into the second quarter.
By half time, the Gaels furthered their lead to 33-25.
“They came out ready to play us tough and play us physical, and I think that we matched that physicality. We just really wanted this for our team, and we worked hard to get here,” Donovan said.
In third quarter, the aggression of the game was growing as TMU tried to climb out of their point deficit.
Despite TMU’s efforts, the Gaels were up 53-38 going into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the TMU Bold continued their attempt at a comeback, but as the clock ticked down, the Gaels emerged victorious when the game ended with a score of 67-49.
“It was just like a high stakes game, and I think that fueled me and fueled the team. We really played well together and also with each other, and I think that’s how we ended up on top,” Julia Chadwick, MIR ‘24, said.
Queen’s will be travelling to Carleton Saturday for the OUA Championship game against the Ravens—a repeat of last year’s championship game.
Last year, the Gaels lost against the Ravens 57-70 at the OUA Championship, and again in the U SPORTS National Championships Gold Medal Game by a score of 59-71.
This year, the Gaels lost both of their two matchups against the Ravens by scores of 68-73 and 63-70.
“This is the position that we want to be in,” said Gaels Head Coach Claire Meadows. “Obviously Carleton’s kind of had our number the last little bit, but it’s another game and I feel like we’re making big steps in terms of playing them and how we need to play them.”
The Gaels look to turn the score around during this year’s OUA Championship rematch. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Men’s Basketball
Talk about the edge of your seat—if you could even find one—for the Men’s Basketball semi-finals on Feb. 28 as the Gaels took on the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues.
The Varsity Blues took the lead early in the game. In the first two minutes, they were already up by a score of 6-0.
The Gaels didn’t stagger by the end of the first quarter. With a score of 18-17 going into the second quarter, the Gaels knew this was their opportunity to try their hand at the lead, or at least to tie it.
U of T extended the score to 20-17 with the first basket of the quarter, but Cameron Bett, ArtSci ‘24, sunk a three-pointer 12 seconds later.
The teams were now tied at 20 each. Bett scored another two points, which was shortly tied by U of T.
With the score tied at 22, U of T took a timeout, hoping to minimize the Gaels’ building momentum. The timeout only made things worse for the Varsity Blues as the Gaels built a 28-22 lead in just over a minute.
At the end of the first half, the Gaels were barely ahead with a score of 40-38. At the end of the third quarter, the teams were tied at 56.
Even in the fourth quarter, the teams were showing no signs of backing down or giving into each other’s leads.
“We just found a way [to get the lead back], we had to. They had their runs, we had our runs, but when it came down to it, we found a way,” Cole Syllas, Sci ’24, said.
With 23 seconds remaining in the game, Luka Syllas scored two points for the Gaels, putting them ahead 69-71. As the seconds trickled down, it looked like the Gaels were winning it.
But someone must have spoken too soon, because U of T put the ball in the basket just as the buzzer sounded. The game was now tied 71-71.
On that buzzer-beater, U of T was awarded one free throw after a foul from Cole Syllas.
As the U of T athlete lined up to take the shot, young fans stood behind the net trying to distract the player from his shot. The crowd joined in, making noise to psyche him out.
The fans’ efforts worked, and the teams were headed to overtime.
“The crowd was such a huge factor tonight. I’m not oblivious to the fact that we don’t win that game without the crowd. That free throw was the crowd’s impact,” Gaels Head Coach Steph Barrie said.
The five minutes of overtime proved to be no different than the previous quarter, with no clear leader stepping in front.
U of T was ahead 81-79, but with seven seconds remaining, Luka Syllas scored a layup, closing the first overtime at 81-81.
“I was just trying to stay calm, not to get too excited. I could see that they were getting a little tired. So, I just kept trying to tell everyone keep pushing, keep running the floor, just leave it all out there,” Luka Syllas said.
The game was now headed to its second round of overtime. An early lead began off a three-pointer from Bett, and the Gaels maintained the lead throughout the remaining minutes.
The game finally closed out at 95-90, and the Gaels are now heading to the championship game.
The championship game will be played this Saturday, Mar. 2 at 3 p.m. and will be the first time in Men’s Basketball history that the OUA Championship trophy will be present in the ARC. The Gaels will play the Brock Badgers, whom they lost to 72-76 in the regular season. Two years ago, the Gaels lost in the finals to the Brock Badgers.
Tonight’s win now gives the Gaels a place at Nationals.
Tags
Cameron Bett, Claire Meadows, Cole Syllas, Julia Chadwick, Laura Donovan, Luka Syllas, Men's Basketball, steph barrie, women's basketball
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