Rough third quarter sinks Badgers
The Brock Badgers women’s basketball squad saw its two-game Ontario University Athletics winning streak come to halt following a 71-48 loss to the Toronto Metropolitan Rams.
The Badgers (2-1) led 12-9 after one quarter but then Toronto Metropolitan proceeded to build quarter leads of 25-23 and 53-36.
“They are a very good team,” Brock head coach Mike Rao said. “They blew us out in the third quarter. I think we stopped defending.”
Top performers for the Badgers were: Madalyn Weinert with 11 points and seven boards; Shailah Adams with nine points; Ilijana Vukovic with six points; Noor Bazzi with five points; and, Jamie Addy with five points and five rebounds in 11 minutes of playing time.
Weinert continues to lead the OUA in scoring, averaging 21.3 points per game.
Jayme Foreman led Toronto Metropolitan with 27 points.
Missing from the Badgers’ lineup with injury was Tito Akinnusi, who plays major minutes for Brock. She is fifth in OUA scoring (17 points per game), third in rebounding (11.5 per game) and fourth in field goal percentage (57.7)
Brock shot 28.3 per cent from the floor, including 2-20 from beyond the arc. Toronto Metropolitan shot the ball at a 43.8 per cent clip.
Things don’t get any easier for the Badgers as they head to Ottawa for games against defending national champion Carleton (3-0) on Friday and Ottawa (2-1) on Saturday.
Rao isn’t sure if Akinnusi will be available for the weekend.
“It’s a huge loss, but next one up right?”
It’s a chance for other players to catch the eye of the coaching staff and work their way into the rotation.
“They have to do that and so far we haven’t replaced her. That’s for sure,” he said.
The goal for the weekend in Ottawa is to survive and play hard.
“We have to try and work it out and defend better,” Rao said.
