By Raine Hernandez
Following their loss to Laval the night before, the Ryerson Rams women’s basketball team were able to bounce back on March 8 with a win in their consolation semi-final against the Regina Cougars at the 2019 U SPORTS Final 8 tournament.
With the win, Ryerson will play the Acadia Axewomen in the Consolation Championship game, as Acadia pulled off the victory against the Concordia Stingers prior to the host team’s victory.
In their quarter-final game, the Rams found themselves behind due to a poor first quarter, shooting 4-15 from the field for a percentage of 26.7 per cent.
This time, the Rams wasted very little time to get immersed into the basketball game. Led by forward Katherine Follis, Ryerson created a presence in the paint and on the offensive glass, leading to a 14-8 advantage after the first quarter.
“Just being able to shoot the basket, looking to attack and shooting was the key,” said Follis.
Despite earning the lead after 10 minutes of play, the Cougars would bounce back after a rough first quarter by forcing turnovers and converting on defensive mishaps from Ryerson to trim the lead to 26-22 at halftime.
It would all change in the beginning of the second half, where Ryerson would finally be able to slip away.
Powered by the frontcourt of Bronwyn Williams and Sofia Paska, Ryerson would go on an incredible 24-12 run, while shooting 10 for 18 and 55 per cent from the field to push themselves away to a 50-34 lead. While the offensive surge in the 3rd quarter may have turned the tables for Ryerson, they were also able to limit the Cougars to shoot the ball at just 35 per cent.
Paska led the way for the Rams, filling the stat sheet with 24 points (including a three-pointer), 11 rebounds, 3 steals, a block, while Williams also hit double digit points with 10 points on 5-6 shooting from the field.
“It was nice to see [the shots] finally fall. We knew it was coming, we had a nice run because our defence sparked our offense,” Rams head coach Carly Clarke said.
Ryerson was able to weather the storm and shut down any comeback attempt that Regina had and finished the job in the fourth quarter to cap off a strong all-around performance, defeating the Cougars by a final score of 63-45.
After losing to Ottawa in heartbreaking fashion, it was evident that the Cougars were not the same team from the night before and were unable to bounce back from the tough loss.
UP NEXT: The Rams will play Acadia on Sunday March 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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