By Daniella Lopez
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s basketball team beat the Western Mustangs 95-65 at the annual Shoot For the Cure game in support of breast cancer awareness on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
“[Winning] this game feels a little extra special and knowing we raised a lot of money feels like the extra cherry on top,” said second-year guard Jayme Foreman.
A slow offensive start for both teams saw the game’s first points come from Rachel Farwell with 8:13 left in the first quarter. The two teams kept it close for the next few minutes, trading baskets.
Western took a short-lived lead with 6:40 left in the quarter, but back-to-back points by Farwell gave TMU the lead at 15-11.
TMU held the Mustangs scoreless for about three minutes near the end of the first to widen their lead to 14 points. At the end of the first 10 minutes TMU led 27-16.
The beginning of the second quarter started similarly to the first, as both teams combined for only four points in the first two minutes of play. Soon after, the Mustangs picked up the pace and cut the Bold’s double-digit lead to a seven-point deficit. Head coach Carly Clarke quickly called a timeout.
“We were working on cleaning up our defensive transition. [Western] was controlling the pace, so we wanted to sort that out,” Clarke said of the timeout.
Foreman became the Bold’s offensive weapon during the second quarter, where she made four three-pointers.
“Once I took that step back in the corner and released it, I realized this is my rhythm. From there I was back to normal and feeling it,” said Foreman.
With 7:03 left in the quarter, Foreman made a three to bring the lead up to 10 points. She followed it up with another three. She finished with 27 points, four rebounds and one assist on 7-12 shooting from beyond the arc.
Largely due to Foreman’s dominance, the Bold widened the lead to 15 points at halftime, where TMU led 48-33.
Haley Fedick began TMU’s offence in the third with a three at the 9:04 mark and the Bold’s next points came from another Foreman three-pointer. The team combined to shoot 51.4 per cent from the three-point line.
“We’re going to shoot open shots, that’s our team identity,” said Farwell. “I feel like we were taking the right [shots] today.”
TMU’s offensive success widened in the third when they built a 20 point lead. They kept that advantage throughout most of the quarter, even when they couldn’t hit a shot.
To begin the final quarter of the game, the Bold led 65-49. They hit seven threes in the fourth quarter compared to Western’s one.
Farwell led the team’s scoring in the final quarter with 11 points. She finished the game with 23 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals while shooting 5-12 from deep.
“We’re working hard as a team to improve on our rebounding statistically, so it’s nice to see those little pieces that we’ve been working on in practice come through,” said Farwell.
The Bold get two back-to-back wins at home and will face the Lakehead Thunderwolves twice next weekend.
“[Lakehead’s] results or record may not look stellar right now but it’s always tough to play up there,” said Clarke.
UP NEXT: TMU faces the Lakehead Thunderwolves in Thunder Bay Ont., on Feb. 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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