By Celina Chugani
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s basketball team extended their win streak to four games in a commanding 71-48 victory over the Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
Assistant coach Shae Dheensaw led the Bold to their second win this week while head coach Carly Clarke was away with the Canadian senior women’s national team for the 2024 Paris Olympics pre-qualifier.
“We’re very long, we’re very athletic,” said Dheensaw. “I had trust that we could really start off strong with our starters and that our bench would be able to add to it.”
Strong and powerful performances by second-year guard Jayme Foreman, first-year forward Hailey Franco-DeRyck and third-year forward Haley Fedick led the team to victory.
Foreman ended the game with a game-high of 27 points—14 of which came in the third quarter—as well as four assists, two rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes. 21 of her 27 points throughout the afternoon came from beyond the arc.
“In the last couple of games, I haven’t been hitting my shots, so I have been trying to find different ways to score, getting to the rim more,” said Foreman. “[In the third quarter] I was open and it felt natural, I wasn’t thinking about the shots, I was just taking them and they were falling.”
After their win on Wednesday night against the McMaster Mauraders, the Bold sat in first place in the Ontario University Athletics Central division, while the Badgers were on their tail in second.
The game started off slow in the first quarter with the Badgers scoring the first points. Brock used different zone defence formations throughout the game which protected the paint, slowed the Bold down and made them shoot from beyond the arc.
“The zone [defence] was a bit of a struggle because we’re not used to seeing [it],” said Franco-DeRyck.
To beat the Badgers’ defence, the Bold found themselves looking to get in the paint and facilitate shots for each other.
“Last year we struggled a little bit at the start of the season and we realized that we want to put ourselves in a better position to be more successful from the start,” said Fedick.
At the start of the second quarter, the Badgers began with less urgency, which allowed the Bold to capitalize on their mistakes and start the quarter on a 9-0 scoring run.
“I wasn’t thinking about the shots, I was just taking them and they were falling”
Brock third-year guard Madalyn Weinert, ended the game with 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in 31 minutes.
The third quarter was the most dominant for the Bold. An increased sense of urgency resulted in an 11-0 run to put the blue and gold in the driver’s seat for the rest of the afternoon.
After taking a commanding lead in the third quarter, the fourth resulted in a slower style of play.
“Once you have a run and are up a bit, it’s hard to keep playing at that same intensity,” said Foreman. “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
Despite the 30-point lead, the team knows their abilities and can push for more.
“Something that we are working on is just not being satisfied with being up,” said Fedick. “Because we know that anyone in this league will fight to the end of the game.”
UP NEXT: The Bold head on the road for the first time this regular season to compete against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at Goldring Centre on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.
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