By Allan Cole
Complete domination. Those two words best describe the Queen’s 70-37 victory over the Rams last Friday night at the Kerr Hall Gym.
The Rams fell behind early, turning the ball over on their first four possessions.
Ryerson head coach Sandra Pothier said an early 17-4 deficit kept her team from getting into sync offensively. “Since they weren’t scoring they sort of panicked and felt like they had to score right away, so they were really forcing the issue offensively.” This led to more Ram turnovers, and kept them from getting back into the game.
Guard Tricia Eastman was the lone bright spot offensively for the Rams. Driving hard to the basket, she scored nine of Ryerson’s eighteen first half points.
Queen’s huge size advantage, with four forwards over six feet tall, came into play in the second half. The Golden Gaels swarmed the boards, winning the rebounding war 45-21 for the game. Pothier agreed size was a problem, but felt her team should have done a better job rebounding. “Some of that (rebounding) can be height, but a big chunk of it’s positioning and we just did not get good position.”
Size may have been the Gaels biggest advantage, but their smallest player was definitely their deadliest weapon. 5’5 guard Jaylene Morrison led Queen’s with 10 first half points hitting from the outside and slashing to the basket. “I think she made a big difference (in the game) opening things up for them. She’s an excellent penetrator and disher,” said Pothier.
Despite a much better effort Saturday night, the Rams lost 58-37 to the Ottawa Gee Gees. Ryerson went on the attack in the first half, executing their offence well, and trailed the unbeaten Gee Gees by just four points at the break. Ottawa turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and held the Rams to 19 per cent shooting for the game. As was the case Friday night the Rams were out-rebounded by a wide margin.
The Rams, who have been hit hard by injuries this year, have had trouble working on plays in practice with only six or seven healthy bodies around, but that will change soon. Stat guard Darcel Wright has played well since returning from a serious knee injury, and forward Lily Gyamfi-Kumanini has just been taken off the injury list. Coach Pothier is looking forward to being able to practice with a full squad. “We’ve had a plethora of injuries (but) if we can get a full week of practice, of 5 on 5, we can really fix some of the problems we have attacking a zone, and boxing out.”
Last weekend’s play left the Rams with one win and five losses so far this season.
Leave a Reply