Gees couldn’t muster enough to take down Mustangs after big win
All good things must come to an end. The Gee-Gees women’s basketball team’s unbeaten streak was broken up just one night after defeating five-time CIS national champion, the Windsor Lancers.
Faced with the accomplished Windsor squad, the Gees controlled the tempo of the game for three quarters before the Lancers started to make a run in the fourth.
Ultimately the Gee-Gees offence was too much for the champions to handle as they came away with a 75-60 win.
The Gees were led by Katherine Lemoine with a 14-point, eight rebound performance. Kellie Ring contributed 12 points, sliding seamlessly back into her role after a concussion.
“I’m really pleased with the girls,” said head coach Andy Sparks. “They stepped up and really took (Windsor) out.”
Playing the role of David is nothing new for the Gee-Gees, they have had great success over Windsor in the past handful of years. If anything, this game adds to their reputation of having the Lancers’ number.
“We don’t want to play slow basketball,” said Ring. “We want to play up-tempo basketball, that’s our goal every time. They kind of got us out of that with their press but it was good, we stuck to our game plan.”
With a tough win, the Gee-Gees would have to outwork Western, which is something they accomplished—for three quarters.
Carrying a slim lead the Gees looked to close out the first half of their year 7-0, but Western had other plans.
The Mustang defence tightened up, and mistakes and bad shots ruled the closing minutes for the Gees. Ultimately, Western took the 75-66 win.
Catherine Traer and Julia Soriano’s combined efforts were not enough to fend off the Mustangs. Traer continued her elite scoring ways with an 18-point performance, while Soriano put up 16 in the losing effort.
“The follow up of last night’s game was potentially what you just saw,” said Sparks after the game. “The second game of a double-header having beaten a team you really wanted to beat badly … They attacked the basket well but we could not guard the ball at all.”
“We broke down in a tremendous number of ways but it seemed to me we were playing tied and standing up a lot. We weren’t getting down playing square and taking responsibility for the ball.”
Regardless of the outcome, the team has had one of the best starts in the team’s history. They look primed to be a playoff contender, but will need to make some unforeseen adjustments to get to the next level.
There was some bad news for Ottawa as they learned that second-year point guard Ariane Lefebvre tore her ACL in practice on Nov. 23 and is out for the season. Lefebvre was settling into a solid role with the team, but will now have to focus on recovering for next season.
The Gee-Gees will return to the floor at Carleton on Jan. 16, where they will look to continue their dominance over the Ravens.
Body Photo: Marta Kierkus
