Badger women open second half with split
The Brock Badgers women’s basketball team started the second half of its Ontario University Athletics season with a .500 weekend.
Brock opened with a 74-45 loss to unbeaten Queen’s (11-0) Friday before rebounding to defeat Ontario Tech (2-9) 79-54 Saturday night.
“We got over the hump of starting the new year so hopefully we can get back into it a little better,” Brock head coach Mike Rao said.
The Badgers will carry a 6-5 record into a Friday road game at Algoma (0-12).
Against Queen’s, the Badgers faced quarter deficits of 15-7, 33-24 and 53-33.
“They are very good, They are seasoned, they have a lot of veterans and their top six players are all fifth year and they have one fourth-year,” Rao said. “We stayed with them for a half and then they kind of ran away on us.”
The Badgers shot 28.8 per cent from the field compared to 36.2 per cent for Queen’s.
Top performers for Brock were: Madalyn Weinert with 14 points and seven rebounds; Theresa Brown with 11 points and five boards; and, Keren Tshinyama Kasonga and Noor Bazzi with eight points apiece.
Kaley DeMont returned to action for Brock and had three rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes of playing time.
Top players for Queen’s were Julia Chadwick with 18 points and 14 boards and Emma Weltz with a dozen points.
In the win over Ontario Tech, the Badgers built quarter leads of 17-11, 45-28 and 64-42.
“We shot better, for sure, and I thought our overall play was good enough to win,” Rao said. “Our play was pretty consistent but OUIT (Ontario Tech) is not a Queen’s.”
Stats leaders for Brock were: Weinert with 19 points and 11 boards; Bazzi with 13 points and five rebounds; Madison MacInnis with eight points, five rebounds and three blocked shots; DeMont with seven points; and, Brown and Ashantae Gayle with six points.
Top scorers from Ontario Tech were Hadeza Ismaila (17) and Dalyssa Fleurgin (11).
Rao was glad to see DeMont return to play on the weekend. She has been out all season battling back from an injury.
“We have to get her in game shape and do all that but it was good to get her in for a few minutes,” he said. “She made a couple of shots on Saturday and got us over the hump a bit.”
