U of T dominates fourth quarter en route to upset win
In the second half of a double-header against the University of Toronto, the Women’s basketball team saw their win streak be halted at nine games. Despite leading for most of the game, the Gees dropped their first game in a longtime against the 6-12 U of T Varsity Blues.
The first quarter was an offensive affair comparatively, with the Gees taking a 19-17 lead at the end of the first ten minutes of play. However, the Garnet and Grey trailed early in the first going down 5-0. That changed when Brooklynn McAlear-Fanus notched her team’s first basket off a jumper as they broke the Varsity Blues’ press early on. Both teams went back and forth in the first quarter, but the Gees ultimately took a 19-17 advantage.
It took the Gees over three minutes to score in the second quarter, but Brigitte Lefebvre-Okanku scored in the post after she received a great pass from McAlear-Fanus. Aliisa Heiskanen scored on a great floater as she was driving to the tin to give the Gees a five-point advantage with four minutes remaining in the half. The first half would end 27-23.
The ball was scored very evenly for the Gees in the first half, but Lefebvre-Okanku led the way with six points to pace the Gees going into an interesting second half.
The third started with the Gees scoring seven unanswered points, including five from Angela Ribarich who became a presence down long, and proved to be un-guardable early on and throughout the half. The Gees brought their largest lead out to ten points on two occasions, and with less than five seconds to go, Amélie Hachey looked to stretch their lead back to nine with a breakaway layup, but she was stripped. At the end of three quarters, the Gees had a comfortable lead 44-37.
For whatever reason, the Gee-Gees did not look like the same team on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter. The Varsity Blues scored the first basket of the quarter with a runner, and tied the game up around the midway mark of the final frame. In a span of less than four minutes, the Varsity Blues pulled off an 11-2 run and ultimately took a 62-53 win at home.
Ribarich scored her team-high 12 points all in the second half, but that wasn’t enough.
The Gee-Gees next home game will take place on Feb. 16 against Queen’s University at 6 p.m. at Montpetit hall.
