Silver once again
photo by Alex Smyth
Women’s basketball team falls to Windsor in OUA championship
FOR THE SECOND year in a row, a lengthy playoff streak for the University of Ottawa women’s basketball team (12-10) ended abruptly and decisively against the well-oiled Windsor Lancers (22-1). In 2009 and again this season, the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championship game was over by halftime. The Gee-Gees trailed 42-14 at the midway point in last year’s final at Windsor, and it was much the same on March 6 at Montpetit Hall as Ottawa trailed 46-19 at the break and never recovered in an 83-55 loss.
“Full credit to [Windsor],” said Gee-Gees head coach Andy Sparks after the loss. “They’re an excellent team and deserving of the win. We needed to compete early and make shots [but] we missed [our attempts] early and [Windsor’s] momentum really caused us to be on our heels.”
As the crowd—which included U of O President Allan Rock—watched on, the Gees got off to a shaky start in the first quarter. The Lancers scored a three-pointer to begin the match and subsequently set-up an impenetrable defence in the key. Windsor continuously frustrated Ottawa’s scoring drives and built a 12-2 lead in the first few minutes.
Midway through the frame, Gees’ fourth-year guard Kelly Weir nailed a shot from downtown and cut Windsor’s lead to 18-12. But Ottawa’s momentum quickly dissipated as the Lancers responded from beyond the arc and prevented the Gees from establishing any rhythm. Windsor had 10 defensive rebounds in the quarter as they led 25-12. Ottawa shot just four of 16 from the field.
“[Windsor] obviously came ready to play,” said Gees’ rookie guard Awo Farah. “We didn’t take care of the ball in the first half.”
In the second quarter, Ottawa’s struggles continued. Lost balls and missed shots plagued the Garnet and Grey, as they finished the half with 11 turnovers and just seven of 34 shooting. The Lancers, meanwhile, had 20 defensive rebounds at halftime along with nine steals. Windsor sank a three-point shot at the buzzer to go up 46-19 after 20 minutes.
“[Windsor] beat us on the perimeter and we weren’t recovering very well,” said Sparks. “They had a lot more second chances as well, [while] we didn’t get any second chances. It was definitely an eye-opener.”
The nationally second-ranked Lancers were led by rookie Jessica Clemencon of France, who led all scorers with 19 points. The player of the game was surprised by her team’s first-half dominance.
“Yeah, well we didn’t expect that,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to keep pushing, [but] we knew they would come back.”
Hannah Sunley-Paisley, Ottawa’s third-year centre and the OUA East player of the year, scored her first points of the match in the third quarter, finishing with just seven on the night. In a telling moment of the match, an aggressive Windsor defender ripped the ball from Sunley-Paisley’s hands and ran down the court, letting an Ottawa player blow by and calmly firing a shot that gave the Lancers a 53-23 lead. That 30-point cushion was more or less maintained for the remainder of the game.
Third-year guard Emilie Morasse led Ottawa with 11 points in the loss.
“For us, it’s good to see what this level [of basketball] is like,” said Sparks. “It’s great for us to play a game like this before nationals. Hopefully we’ll be better for next week.”
“We obviously learned our lesson,” added Farah. “We’re going to play our hardest at nationals.”
The Gee-Gees will play their first CIS women’s basketball championship game in Hamilton on March 12. Ottawa will play Windsor in a quarterfinal match at McMaster University's Burridge Gym. Game time is 1 p.m.
