By Devin Jones
Ryerson’s women’s basketball team was defeated 74-56 by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, in what was the Rams final game of the semester.
The Rams sluggish pace and lack of defence throughout allowed Blues guard Jill Stratton to score 15 points on the night, handing the Rams their eleventh loss of the season.
“I think the game was indicative of our season thus far,” said Rams head coach Carly Clarke. “It’s the inconsistency, it’s competing sometimes, and then not competing at other times. We’re not ready to play for whatever reason”
In the beginning the Rams looked lost, with a lack of communication leading to the Varsity Blues gaining an early 10- 0 lead. Ryerson wouldn’t put any points on the board until three minutes left in the first quarter, when guard Kenesha Pingue-Giles managed a two point field goal.
Giles has been a recurring bright spot, managing to have a 19-point night despite the loss.
“I feel like I’m a hustler, I just go after the ball as much as I can, and show my skill on the court,” said Giles.
At the end of the first half, the Rams lack of communication and poor defensive transitions, allowed the Blues to take a 33-16 lead, a lead they would to continue to build upon throughout the game.
“We had a lack of communication, and I think that’s our biggest downfall,” said Giles. “On our defensive transitions, we don’t match up well.”
The start of the second half, saw the Rams come out with a more concerted effort, scoring 40 of their 56 points in the third and fourth quarters. But the lack of energy from the Rams, gave the Varsity Blues the opportunity to score 28 points in the fourth, effectively giving them the 74-56 win.
“There was no energy whatsoever, we started the game really slow,” said third-year guard Silvana Jez. “We let them dictate everything, and I feel like there was no talk on defence.”
Slow starts and lack of energy, has been a recurring theme for the Rams this season, which is something the team is hoping to fix come the new year.
“For us, its either we start off really well and stay that way, or we just start off really sluggish and bad, and we stay there,” said Jez.
Last season the Rams beat the Blues in the three times the team met.
“We knew they were going to pressure us, so we prepared for that,” said Clarke. “We talked about doing something’s defensively, in terms of their top players, but we didn’t execute on them. They got some easy buckets on us.”
Over the winter break, the Rams plan on having some training sessions, but Clarke stated that there would be no formal practices.
The Rams in their first game back after the break will once again play the Toronto Varsity Blues, Jan. 5 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
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