By Robert Mackenzie
Ryerson’s women’s basketball team defeated the Waterloo Warriors 70-57 in their home-opener Friday night at Coca-Cola Court.
Third-year guard Kenesha Pingue-Giles led the Rams in scoring with 18 points, finishing just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds, and third-year guard Silvana Jez chipped in with 16 points, as the Rams won their first game of the season.
“The key [for me] was really going after the boards, just playing as tough as I could,” said Pingue- Giles, who scored 15 of her 18 points in the first half, in addition to compiling four steals and four assists.
Though the Rams were out-shot 43 to 35 per cent, they had far more possession time with the ball.
The Rams (1-2) attempted 29 more field-goal attempts than the Warriors on the night, leading to six extra makes, and their significant possession time came by capitalizing on 30 Warriors turnovers.
The Rams’ fast pace of play early on led to a 14-4 run midway through the first quarter, as they took a 24-14 lead through one frame.
“We came out with lots of and we were able to execute well,” said first-year guard Julia Robertson.
The Warriors (1-2) were able to cut their deficit to as low as five at one point during the third quarter, but the Rams re-established their earlier pace and ended the quarter leading 53-38.
“We started settling for outside shots instead of good, inside looks,” said Jez. “Our defence was playing well all game though, that’s why we won.”
“Defence wins games, offence sells tickets.”
That stingy defence allowed the Warriors to shoot just 37 per cent in the second half, down from the 50 per cent they shot in the first two quarters.
In the fourth quarter, the Rams traded points in the Warriors, and was outscored 19- 17, but were able to ease their way to victory.
“Every team is going to go on a run at some point,” said head coach coach Clarke. “We need to start playing a more consistent 40 minutes from this point on.”
Rams forward Annie Sokoloff also came just a rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 12 points while grabbing nine boards.
“”Ball pressure had a really big effect on all of the turnovers,” said first-year guard Julia Robertson, who had two steals and five points in her Rams debut. “We did a good job of getting in shooter’s faces.”
With the win, the Rams jumped into fourth place in the eight-team Ontario University Athletic east.
The Rams will look to continue their winning ways Saturday night, as they return to Coca-Cola Court to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks.
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