By Jonathan Reynoso
Hoops season is here at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and the Bold women’s basketball team has their eyes set on the Ontario University Athletics’ (OUA) Critelli Cup.
Last year, the Bold lost to the Queen’s Gaels in the OUA semifinal, closing out a dramatic season that saw the team win 10-straight games to start the season, falter in January and hit their stride again heading into the playoffs.
TMU is coming into this season with laser focus. A 7-2 record in pre-season reflects the teams’ hunger to put another banner up in the rafters.
“It showed we can be a winning team,” said fifth-year forward Callie Wright, who joined the squad this season.
Head coach Carly Clarke said the team improved as the exhibition campaign went on and “had some great results.”
“We were pretty intentional with our schedule, getting some challenging opponents to both see where we’re at, but also see what we need to work on,” she said.
The Bold’s guard play popped in the pre-season. Second-year guard Catrina Garvey dropped 21 points on this year’s U Sports national championship host, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Oct. 10. In similar fashion, fourth-year guard Jayme Foreman posted a 20-point performance against the Laurier Golden Hawks on the second day of the 36th annual Darcel Wright Memorial Classic to help the team advance to the final.
Alongside Garvey—the 2023-24 U Sports Rookie of the Year—and Foreman, the Bold backcourt is led by fifth-year guard Kaillie Hall, who returned to the team for her last year of OUA eligibility after graduating from TMU’s RTA sport media program in June. Also returning is third-year guard Kait Nichols, who played only one game last season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and second-year guard Alex Pino, who is a scoring threat the Bold relied on off the bench last year.
“We had six freshmen last year and now they’re all sophomores. They know the standard”
Depth at the guard position will be an important factor in the Bold’s play this season.
“I think that’s the strength of our team,” said Clarke. “Having those players around…gives us lots of weapons and versatility that we’re really excited about.”
TMU’s roster this year had little to no shake-up, with Ailani Curvan, Sarai Bailey and Jamila Christian being the only players not to return this season.
Three new additions to the roster are taking their place on the court. First-year guard Magdelena Vukojev, first-year forward Aislin McBurney and Wright—who spent her last season playing Division 1 basketball at College of the Holy Cross and brings National Collegiate Athletics Association experience to the roster. With minimal turnover, the Bold sustain a level of continuity that will be crucial for their success this season.
“The ability to continue to build year over year is really important,” said Clarke.
Coming into the year with most of the same teammates allows the team’s veterans to fortify their connections with all the younger players on the roster. Hall sees this continuity as an opportunity for more players to find themselves and step into leadership roles.
“We had six freshmen last year and now they’re all sophomores. They know the standard,” said Hall. “Having that extra group of people leading, whether that’s by example or vocally, is huge.”
Knowing each other well also allows for the team to be a step ahead, with a bond already formed between the majority of the players, enabling them to become a well-oiled machine.
“I think there’s an established connection there. That’s the biggest thing, it is exciting when you get to build on that,” said Hall. “The expectations are already known, the standards are already known. It’s just how you show up now.”
“Our mindset is to push and get one per cent better every single day”
As a veteran player in her final season with the Bold, Hall seeks to take in and appreciate every step of the process this season.
“It is my last year. So my mindset is one, beating and leaving everything out on the floor, and two, really trying to enjoy it,” she said.
In a long OUA season, every day that goes by means it gets harder and harder to keep that same mindset day in and day out.
However, for the Bold, their past battles have given them the push they need to have a strong season.
To Hall, the key to building momentum throughout the season is “resilience.”
“Our mindset is to push and get one per cent better every single day and to ultimately have that result in some really good things at the end of the year,” she said.
Clarke explained the squad’s effort gives them the edge to compete with any team in the OUA and to earn their second trip to Vancouver, this time for the U Sports Final 8.
“Our team believes that we can beat anybody in our league,” she said.
Statements like this indicate what can be expected from this year’s Bold team in play and in their approach to a long season.
After ending the pre-season with a loss to the Saskatchewan Huskies in the final of the Darcel Wright Memorial Classic, Wright said the team will use the experience as a lesson in preparation for the OUA season and beyond.
“We’re good. We’re ready.”
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