By Tristan Forde
Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) Bold women’s basketball team emerged victorious over the Waterloo Warriors in a 64-59 win at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday night.
The Bold extended their win streak to three with the victory, disposing of a Waterloo team hoping to do the same with a committed defensive effort.
“We had some great defensive stands, and that sort of finished it off for us,” said head coach Carly Clarke.
The Bold carried from the start, thanks to an early lay-up from fifth-year guard Kaillie Hall. She was a grand force of power for the Bold throughout the game, constantly drawing fouls from the Warriors and giving her many opportunities to score easy points. Hall scored nine of her 11 free throw attempts.
Carrying the back line of the Bold’s defence throughout the early quarters of the game was second-year forward Hailey Franco-DeRyck. With her at the helm, the Bold limited the Warriors’ open shots and forced tough plays in the paint.
“It was nice to get to that position early, but we know that they’re a gritty team, and they weren’t going to go away,” said Clarke.
The first and only time the Bold lost the lead to the Warriors was in the halfway point of the first quarter, following a three-point shot from Warriors second-year guard Yemi Oladipo. The 11-10 victory disappeared quickly as Hall kickstarter an 8-2 run to end the quarter.
The Warriors trailed closely behind the Bold for the rest of the game.
“[Waterloo] battled hard, they’re defensive, and we knew that it was going to be that type of fight today,” said Clarke.
The greatest challenge the Bold had from the Warriors was fifth-year centre Nehita Oko-Oboh. The Ottawa product—who is currently leading Ontario University Athletics in rebounds with 121—not only kept the ball in Warriors possession but led the game in scoring as well. Oko-Oboh finished the game with 19 points, three blocks and three steals.
“They’ve got one of the best forwards in the conference, so we’re pretty dialed into what she’s doing and how she’s playing,” said Clarke of the Bold’s defensive efforts against the hard-driving Warriors..
With both teams playing on similar wavelengths, it was a long game of back and forths and turnovers.
Fourth-year forward Lauryn Meek initiated the second quarter with an early lay up. This gave the Bold a 20-13 lead.
The key to the Bold emerging victorious was through rebounds and steals, which allowed them to disrupt the Warriors in starting up their offence. Franco-DeRyck and fifth-year forward Callie Wright were key players in this outcome.
Franco-DeRyck finished the game with 11 rebounds, six steals and one block.
“[Franco-DeRyck] impacts the game in a lot of different ways…She just competes all the time,” said Clarke.
In the second quarter, the Warriors pierced through the Bold defences several times but failed to capitalize off of most of their attempts.
The Bold’s excellent defence allowed more players to shine in their offense. Second-year guard Catrina Garvey and fourth-guard Jayme Foreman supported the Bold in spreading the offense and looking for gaps in the Warriors back-line. Foreman scored 10 points in the game, while Garvey scored 13.
Early on in the fourth quarter the Bold drove their offense into the Warriors paint. The Bold had six offensive rebounds in the span of 10 seconds, before the Warriors finally regained possession of the ball.
“We just tried to have a couple different ways to attack their pressure. I thought for the most part, we handled that when we were focused,” said Clarke.
Exploiting the gaps in the Warriors defence allowed the Bold to soar ahead.
“We’re gonna play Ottawa next week, who’s one of the best of the best teams, but so are we. So we’re looking for that match up to finish this semester,” said Clarke.
UP NEXT: The Bold will face the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the final game of the calendar year at the MAC on Nov 30. Tip-off is set at 2 p.m.
Leave a Reply