By Chris Blanchette
The Ryerson women’s basketball team defeated the Brock Badgers 74-67 on Wednesday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Ryerson started off cold in the first half – they shot only 31 per cent from the field and 14.3 per cent from the three-point line. At the break they trailed 39-30 – a deficit that could have been far larger – given the Rams poor shooting performance.
The Rams came out of the break firing on all cylinders. By the six-minute mark in the third quarter, Ryerson had tied up the game at 41 and their first half shooting woes seemed to be behind them. The Rams led 54-49 headed into the fourth quarter.
In the second half, the Rams shot much better, even from three-point territory, which is something they have struggled with so far this season.
With the final minute of the game ticking away, Pingue-Giles hit an and-one runner in the lane with 45.4 seconds left in the game to give Ryerson a five-point lead. A last second three point attempt by the Badgers failed to fall, and Ryerson came away victorious.
“I thought we settled at times for the shots that they wanted us to take,” said head coach Carly Clarke on the team’s first half shooting percentages.
In the victory, Ryerson shot 37.5 per cent from the field and 31.3 per cent from three-point range, an overall improvement from their first half troubles.
“We knew where we want to be and in order to do that we have to win these games,” said Pingue-Giles, who led Ryerson with 21 points, eight rebounds and four steals in the game.
This extends Ryerson’s winning streak to three games, and improves their record to 10-3. And it’s the way that Ryerson faced adversity that makes them such a dominant team in the OUA.
“I think our third quarter was great, we’ve gone into a couple games down at half and haven’t had a great response. But I thought that today we rose to the occasion especially on the defensive end in the third quarter,” added Clarke on only allowing Brock to score 10 points in the third.
The Rams will take on Laurier University on Friday night at sixp.m., as they look to extend their winning streak to four games.
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