Jock talk
Women’s basketball splits final weekend at home
THE GEE-GEES women’s basketball team was hoping to stage a comeback victory over Ryerson (10-8) at Montpetit Hall on Jan. 29, but even with a strong fourth quarter Ottawa ran out of time and lost the match 80-76.
Ryerson quickly established the lead and was ahead 24-20 at the end of the first quarter. The Gees, thanks to a 36-point, 17-rebound performance from third-year centre Hannah Sunley-Paisley, narrowed the Rams’ lead to 37-35 at halftime. In the third quarter Ottawa struggled and allowed Ryerson to increase their lead to 60-52. The Gees staged a comeback attempt in the final frame, but it fell just short.
The following night, Ottawa rebounded with a 69-57 win against the Toronto Varsity Blues (7-11) in their final home game of the season. It was a close, low-scoring affair as the Blues led only 28-26 at halftime. The Gees, led by Sunley-Paisley’s 30 points and 9 rebounds, soundly outscored Toronto in the second half to secure the victory.
Ottawa (10-8) is now in fourth place in the Ontario University Athletics East. They will hit the road Feb. 6–7 to play against Laurentian (11-7) and York (3-15). —Jenna Pietrantonio
Field day for men’s track team at McGill Challenge
OVER 650 ATHLETES descended upon Montreal Jan. 29–30 to compete in the 15th annual McGill Team Challenge, held at the Richard Tomlin Fieldhouse. The nationally fourth-ranked Gee-Gees men’s track and field team proved to be the second-best squad at the competition, finishing behind only Guelph University in a field of 15 schools. The U of O women’s team finished in seventh place overall out of 14 competing universities.
The men’s team featured several standout performances: Christopher Greenaway had a personal best time of 6.94 seconds in the 60-metre race, finishing seventh overall. He later won a gold medal in the men’s high jump with a leap of 7.63 metres. The men’s 4x200-metre relay team, consisting of Michael Robertson, Oluwasegun Makinde, and Moussa Sisoko won the gold with a time of 1:27.72. Roberston also finished first in the 600m with a time of 1:15.53, and he is now ranked number one in Canada in both the 600-metre and 300-metre events. Finally, he was part of the men’s 4x400-metre team that also captured a gold medal.
Highlights for the women included a provincial championships-qualifying time from Cheryl Coulas in the pentathlon and a silver medal for Julia Malleck in the 1000-metre race.
The Gees will next compete on Feb. 6 in an exhibition event at the Louis Riel Dome in Ottawa. —Andrew Hawley
Men’s basketball wins back-to-back games at home
JUST TWO DAYS after falling short in the Capital Hoops Classic, the University of Ottawa men’s basketball team rebounded with a pair of wins at Montpetit Hall. On Jan. 29, the Gee-Gees won 82-73 versus the visiting Ryerson Rams (6-10). The following night, Ottawa beat the Toronto Varsity Blues (7-9) by a score of 89-69.
In the game against Ryerson, Ottawa came out with a strong start and held a 21-12 advantage after the first 10 minutes. In the second quarter, the Rams responded by putting together runs that allowed them to tie the match 31-31 at halftime.
The Gees were able to gain a lead in the third quarter and this time, never looked back. Ottawa was led by fifth-year guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe, who shot 70 per cent from beyond the arc and finished with a game-high 26 points.
The following night, the Gees got off to a fast start as they outscored the Blues 26-19 in the first quarter. Toronto responded in the second frame but still found themselves trailing 44-36 at halftime.
Once again, the Gees closed the door in the second half. Second-year guard Warren Ward dominated the game for the Garnet and Grey, scoring 38 points and shooting 75 per cent from the field.
With the wins, Ottawa improves to 14-3 and is in second place in the Ontario University Athletics East division. The Gees will hit the road Feb. 6–7 to compete against Laurentian (6-10) and York (3-13). —Jenna Pietrantonio
