By Tristan Forde
The TMU Bold women’s basketball team triumphed 67-52 over the McGill Martlets at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Sunday afternoon, marking their fourth consecutive win in their pre-season campaign.
The Bold prevailed in the first matchup between the two teams since Oct. 13, 2018, which the Bold also won, 80-79.
The Martlets quickly got first possession of the ball from the tip-off but after a missed pass, the Bold were able to gain control. From there, the Bold managed to take the first few points thanks to combined efforts between second-year guard Hailey Franco-DeRyck and third-year guard Kait Nichols.
With an offence primarily focused around graduate-student Kaillie Hall, the guard led the Bold up and down the court as the team’s top scorer. The Bold were up 20-10 in the first quarter after a handful of fouls and travels from McGill.
The Martlets’ defence slowly started to show its strength towards the end of the quarter, but the Bold still left the first with a 25-16 lead
Hall kicked off the second quarter scoring for TMU, leading the way for a burst from the Bold. When the Martlets regained possession, third-year forward Jessica Keripe intercepted a pass and scored for the Bold immediately after. Hall once again proved her skill and dominance and led the flock when she drove up the court to score for the Bold yet again.
On the defensive end, second-year guard Catrina Garvey marked her ground deep in the paint, picking up rebounds and keeping the Bold in control of the game.
The play was stopped near the end of the quarter when fifth-year Martlets centre Katerina Stoupas was taken off the court after an ankle injury. When the play continued, Hall resumed dominating the court by scoring again to finish off an extended passing play before the end of the second quarter. The second quarter ended with the Bold still in the lead 41-24.
During halftime, the Toronto Lords girls basketball team took to the court and played a scrimmage to show support for the Bold. The Lords also took part in team introductions and a photo after the game.
Going into the third quarter, both teams put everything they had on the court but McGill took control. The Martlets’ defence kept the Bold from scoring and forced them to run the shot clock down to zero on several occasions. Second-year Martlets guard Lily Rose Chatila then managed to catch the Bold off guard and score an easy point to bring the score to 41-26.
Garvey and Hall mustered a few points for the Bold by forcing their way to the net. The momentum the Bold created came to a stop when fourth-year guard Katie Rathwell shot a three-pointer for the Martlets. The Martlets’ defence kept all of the Bold’s offensive options shut out and unable to score, with the exception of graduate student Callie Wright and Garvey breaking through the Martlets’ wall to find the basket.
The third quarter ended with Rathwell scoring another three-pointer for the Martlets, making the score 55-39.
The final quarter kicked off with both teams in a deadlock. Tight defence from either team stopped most scoring.
A rough collision between Hall and Chatila gave possession to the Martlets but Hall would prevail shortly after by scoring her 20th point of the game. She finished as the game’s leading scorer, while first-year Emilia Diaz-Ruiz led the Martlets with 16.
The time wound down with just a few chances for either side, highlighted by a fast-break for Diaz-Ruiz following a steal. There was a similar looking play from fourth-year Bold forward Haley Fedick, who outsped the Martlets to find an open net.
The game concluded with a crawl to the buzzer before the Bold walked off with their third-straight double-digit victory and a 4-0 pre-season record.
UP NEXT: The Bold continue their pre-season campaign at UBC where they will play against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and University of Fraser Valley Cascades on Oct. 10 and 11. The Bold return to the MAC on Oct. 18 for the 36th Annual Darcel Wright Memorial Classic.
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