By Julian Bettencourt
The Toronto Metropolitan (TMU) Bold women’s basketball team took a victory over the No. 8 McMaster Marauders by a score of 78-63 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
TMU’s victory broke McMaster’s 10-game winning streak. It’s also a pivotal victory for the reigning national champs, improving their record to 13-7 as the playoffs loom.
“They’re a great team and really, really well-coached,” said head coach Carly Clarke. “We saw them in November and felt we didn’t play our best and felt we improved a lot [since then], so we were just excited to see what our improvement looked like versus a top team.”
Possession changes were aplenty to open the game. Clarke’s tough defensive scheming was able to take advantage of the Marauders’ fast-paced offence.
The hot hand of fourth-year guard Tiya Misir helped too. She scored the Bold’s first eight points of the contest and aided them to a commanding nine-point lead early on.
“I think [my performance] was solid,” said Misir. “I played good defence and I tried to pressure as much as I could and bring energy for my team.”
She finished the contest with a team-high 16 points and shot the ball at a 70 per cent clip.
Multiple TMU players seemed as though they couldn’t miss in the second frame of the game. The highlight of The Bold’s half came from the shooting of Haley Fedick, who converted back-to-back-to-back threes to get those attending at the MAC on their feet.
Additionally, fifth-year guard Eve Uwayesu continued where she left off the night prior. Uwayesu scored a career-high 16 points on Friday night in a win at York and kept up that level of scoring Saturday night with another 13.
“I’ve just been trying to lean into my game, and trying to find my shots when I can, but mostly just looking for the open teammate,” said Uwayesu. “But just letting it come to me has been the best thing, and I’ve been enjoying being back”.
Also in the second quarter, history was made when McMaster’s Sarah Gates made a free throw to put herself into the top ten in all-time scoring in Women’s OUA basketball. The historic achievement capped off her 28-point performance for the Marauders.
Gates also became the leading scorer in Marauders program history last Saturday when she recorded the 1720th point of her career. The sharpshooter has been hailed by many as one of the best players in the country and received praise from Clarke following the contest.
“She is so tough, Player of The Year in my opinion for sure,” said Clarke. “She scores in so many ways and I think this year she finally graduates, but I got a lot of respect for how hard she plays and the improvement that she’s shown from her first to fifth year.”
TMU’s lead was cut in half within minutes In the third quarter. Gates’ 12-point third-quarter display was the cherry on top for McMaster in an overall great quarter where they showcased why they have one of the best records in the league.
By the end of the third quarter, TMU’s 12-point lead had been cut down to just four.
But the Bold held on in the final frame by slowing down the pace. They held McMaster to only four points in the final 10 minutes of action and kept Gates scoreless to cruise to the victory.
“We’re giving everyone else the belief we have in ourselves,” said Clarke. “It’s a long season, we’ve had some ups and downs for a variety of reasons, but we believe that when we play at our best we can compete with everybody.”
UP NEXT: TMU travels to St. Catharines, Ont. to take on the Brock Badgers for the first of a home-and-home between the two teams. When Brock and TMU play it never disappoints, evident by their duel in the 2022 Critelli Cup Final and national semi-final at the U Sports Final 8. Tip-off on Feb. 17 is set for 6 p.m.
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