By Zoha Naghar
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s basketball team won 75-50 on Nov. 4 against the Lakehead Thunderwolves on the second night of a back-to-back at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
Despite TMU’s large lead for most of the game, the team’s energy remained consistent throughout all four quarters.
“There are times where the energy dips a little bit…it’s also hard to keep that energy up when you’re beating the team,” said second-year Bold guard Jayme Foreman.
The Bold wasted no time after winning the jump ball as they scored the first basket. During the first quarter, the team started with man-to-man defence before moving to a zone defence later in the game as the Thunderwolves started to push back.
Fourth-year guard Kaillie Hall scored a team-high 14 points, adding six rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes. She started the game by scoring six of the Bold’s first ten points.
“Back-to-back [games] are always tough,” said TMU head coach Carly Clarke. “Lakehead is extremely well coached, they made some good adjustments today and we tried to do the same.”
Second-year TMU forward Jessica Keripe was another role-player in the first contributing to the eight-point lead that the Bold had at the end of the quarter. Keripe ended the night with nine points and three rebounds in 20 minutes.
“Yesterday we won, but we weren’t super happy with how we played”
Due to Hall and Keripe’s offensive abilities, the duo carried the team to an early 22-14 lead into the second quarter.
During the second quarter, first-year Bold guard Catrina Garvey brought extra motivation to the team with her long-range shots that carried into the rest of the game. She ended the game with seven points, three assists and four rebounds.
On the other side, Lakehead struggled on both sides of the floor as they couldn’t connect their shots or collect rebounds. TMU capitalized on their mistakes and grabbed defensive rebounds to close out possessions. TMU ended the game with a total of 45 rebounds compared to Lakehead’s 36.
After some struggles, first-year Thunderwolves guard Ally Burke started heating up, connecting shots and bringing competition into the game. Burke finished the game with 16 points, three assists and two rebounds. TMU entered the half leading Lakehead 38-23.
“Basketball is not a perfect sport and there are always things we need to improve on”
The Bold continued their dominance entering the third quarter with Foreman collecting open offensive looks. Foreman ended the game with 13 points, three assists and one rebound.
“Yesterday we won, but we weren’t super happy with how we played,” said Foreman. “We thought we could bring some more energy and shock them with how we were playing, and I think we did that tonight.”
In the third quarter, TMU implemented a full-court defence tactic which opened up the floor for them, increasing their scoring opportunities. This was the highest-scoring quarter for the Bold, ending with 22 points.
Entering the fourth quarter, Hall continued her string of scoring by getting herself on the free throw line even after making a basket—resulting in an increase in the Bold’s lead.
TMU continued to bring their intensive energy up until the end of the quarter as they officially defeated the Thunderwolves for the second night straight.
“Basketball is not a perfect sport and there are always things we need to improve on,” said Clarke. “Defensively, we made a bit of a jump but we still have a ways to go there and still continuing to find flow on offence.”
UP NEXT: The Bold take on the McMaster Marauders at 6 p.m. at the MAC on Nov. 8.
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