By Emerson Williams
In a hard-fought finish, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s basketball team closed out the 36th Annual Darcel Wright Memorial Classic with a 54-62 loss to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Sunday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
The Bold led the weekend off on Friday with a 66-55 win against the Cape Breton University Capers, followed by a tight 69-63 win against the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks. Going into the final game of the tournament, the Bold were hopeful to clap back at the Huskies after losing to them in the same game a year ago. Nevertheless, in a heated match of fouls and three-pointers, the Bold met their maker once again.
Despite the team’s finishing loss, Bold head coach Carly Clarke is confident in her team going into the regular season.
“[Saskatchewan] is one of the top teams in the country. I think we’re up there too. We showed that we can compete with them in spurts,” said Clarke. “ I think our spirits are not down following this weekend.”
The first quarter of Sunday’s game started off with no dice for the Bold. After winning the tip-off, the Bold missed their first four shots at the Huskies’ basket. However, a quick defensive foul from Huskies fourth-year forward Courtney Primeau was met with a vengeful swish from graduate forward Kaillie Hall on her second free throw.
The Huskies proved early on that they were willing to fight to uphold their reign over the Bold. A three-pointer from fourth-year guard Andrea Dodig following a foul set the scene for an aggressive match. The Bold countered with organized defence, accumulating four steals three minutes into the game.
Clarke attempted to iron out offensive creases with the Bold’s first timeout of the game—following two successful baskets from the Huskies. Fourth-year Huskies guard Gage Grassick burst the Bold’s bubble with another three-pointer, beginning a dominating point margin for the Bold to close.
The chase was on by the end of the first with two field goals from Bold fourth-year forward Lauryn Meek and fourth-year guard Jayme Foreman. But third-year Huskies guard Maya Flindall quickly made her mark with a slick three-pointer, officially declaring the three-point line as the place to watch for the TMU defence. The first quarter ended with a 17-7 lead for the Huskies.
Starting off the second quarter, second-year Bold guard Alex Pino matched the Huskies’ energy with a countering three-pointer. The Huskies aimed to keep the points gap wide, scoring two free throws, a layup and a three-pointer within a minute of Pino’s scoreboard contribution.
A timeout called by the Bold didn’t ease any moxie from the Huskies, landing them another foul and another Flindall three-pointer. But soon, Hall had to get in on the fun, securing her own three-pointer. Pino followed suit with another three, following a layup from second-year guard Catrina Garvey.
The Bold went into half-time after showing off some ambitious shots to no avail. Two successful free throws from Primeau extended the Huskies’ lead to 35-20.
In the third quarter, TMU brought a burst of energy. Foreman and Hall sparked the fire with layups, prompting TMU graduate forward Callie Wright to hurl the rock in a right-handed layup herself.
It was an offensive comeback for the Bold. The game became tit for tat with a three-pointer from Grassick, a two-point bucket from Wright and a rebound toss from Primeau. As points tallied up, fouls did too with both teams hitting the bonus limit by the end of the quarter. The quarter ended with a continued lead of 48-37 from the Huskies.
At this point in the match, the Bold collectively accumulated 13 fouls with the Huskies trailing behind at 7. The Bold stayed motivated in the warfare, according to Wright.
“Some of the calls were a little tough, and I think that played a role in [our mishaps],” she said. “But we’re not gonna rely on the refs next time we play them. We now know what we have to do.”
Huskies head coach Lisa Thomaidis reflected on her team’s waning defensive edge at this point in the match post-game.
“It’s always tough—playing in another team’s home gym for the final. TMU plays hard. They’ve got some solid shooters and they take away some of the things that we like to do,” she said.
“I thought we just got really impatient offensively. We weren’t running them through any actions and just settling for the first attack, and that really hurt us,” Thomaidis added.
Third-year guard Kait Nichols brought a lot of hope at the crack of the fourth quarter, closing the gap between the teams to a nine-point difference with a layup.
A matching two-pointer from Grassick didn’t throw off the game of Pino, who found a window through the Huskies’ lacking defence to unleash a clean corner-three.
Back-and-forth scoring gave way to a three-point showcase. Huskies third-year guard Logan Reider halted a Bold run with a three, then Grassick put a cherry on top with another three-pointer, stacking up a 27-point game for herself. But Hall seemed to have taken that personally, snatching two more threes of her own.
Even with Hall’s efforts to save the day, the Huskies came out on top. Taking advantage of missed layups and sporadic passes from the Bold, the Huskies cruised to a 62-54 win. They’ve earned the right to take home the Darcel Wright tournament trophy in the face of the Bold once again.
As for Wright, her head is held high at the end of three games in three days.
“I feel like we’re in a good spot right now. Obviously, we have things to work on, but I’m really proud of what we just did, and I think we stayed together,” she said.
UP NEXT: The TMU Bold women’s basketball team kick off their regular season in a game against the Nipissing University Lakers on Oct. 25 at the Robert J. Surtees Student Athletic Centre in North Bay, Ont. Tip-off is set at 6 p.m.
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