New team, new drive, new championship?
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees went up against the Windsor Lancers on Friday and began with a hot start. The garnet and grey got an uncontested clean layup off the opening tip-off, setting the tone of the game. A physical start continued across the first two quarters, creating an intense style of play in which both teams found themselves pressing early on.
Surprisingly, even though the Gee-Gees found themselves being bodied and their every move being covered, they contested the physicality of the sport and took charge of the offensive plays.
Most of the U of O points by the second quarter came from the paint, showcasing the drive this “new” team has, and when it wasn’t from the paint, they came from fourth-year Allie McCarthy, who scored a trifecta of three-pointers, helping the team reach a score of 39 by the end of the second quarter.
The third quarter was dominated by the Gee-Gees; A specific player in particular. Third-year guard Alissa Provo — starting for the first time as a Gee — dominated every steal, sprint, block and shot, obtaining 11 points within that time frame.
The garnet and grey obtained a 20-point lead, scoring 22 points, which stood ingroundbreaking difference compared to the Lancer’s six.
When asked what changed to stop the Windsor offence coming out of the half, head coach Rose-Anne Joly stated, “We are trying to be consistent with our defensive side and making sure we play with some pressure. [in the first half] we were late to some stuff.” Joly continued by making it clear the team “is supposed to play through fatigue, and [they] did that.”
By the fourth quarter, the game picked up again after McCarthy showed up again on the scoreboard with a three-pointer, followed by two back-to-back three-pointers by 2023-24 OUA First Team All-Star, Natsuki Szczokin, which she later turned into a trifecta, obtaining nine points solely with her shooting skills.
By the game’s final minutes, the Gees knew the court inside and out, still leading by over 20 points, allowing first-year guard Sophie-Anne Bouffard to score her first two points for the garnet and grey, showing the newer sides to the already familiar team.
This home opener saw a new basketball team that knows what it takes to get to the finals. By relying on each other and demonstrating the new aura entering the team this season, even coach Joly mentioned the hope and excitement with which they hope to continue and how the team will “understand what they want offensively and be able to execute it.”
The Gee-Gees would follow up the decisive win with an even more lopsided 92-57 win Saturday night over Western. The team will head off on a road trip beginning next weekend where they will visit Laurier and Waterloo.
