Badgers fourth at nationals
The Brock Badgers women’s basketball team’s run at the USPORTS national championships came to an end Sunday with a 75-57 loss to the Queen’s Golden Gaels in the bronze medal game in Kingston.
Queen’s roared out to a 26-12 first-quarter lead and after Brock cut the lead to 35-30 at the half, the Golden Gaels put the game on ice by outscoring the Badgers 40-27 in the second half.
“All I can say is that the game was disappointing. I am disappointed in the game and the whole day,” Brock head coach Mike Rao said.
And while there was disappointment, it didn’t take away from the fact that the defending USPORTS silver medalists finished the year as the fourth best team in the nation.
“I congratulated the girls at the end and told them that they had had a really good, successful year,” Rao said. “Nobody thought that we would be fourth in Canada but we ended up here and they did a tremendous job. Today there was nothing they could have done to change the outcome.”
Leading the way for Brock against Queen’s were: Ivana Twumasi with 14 points; Victoria Lawrence with 13 points; and, Jenneke Pilling and Madalyn Weinert with six points apiece.
Twelve Brock players saw at least six minutes of playing time and nine Badgers had 11 minutes or more of court time.
“I don’t know if that was intentional. I didn’t come out with that but we needed to do that,” Rao said. “We needed people, we needed bodies and we needed to keep changing stuff.”
Isabella Belvedere topped Queen’s with 22 points while Julia Chadwick added 16 and Emma Weltz netted 10.
Brock opened the tournament with a 85-74 victory over the Acadia Axewomen before dropping a 64-56 overtime decision in the semifinals to the Ryerson Rams. Ryerson also beat Brock in overtime in the OUA championship game.
The Badgers outscored Ryerson 15-10 in the final quarter to force overtime.
“We were there and I thought we had a chance at the end. With 12 seconds left, we got a great look and it just didn’t work out for us,” Rao said. “They hit their first three shots in overtime. We were coming from behind and couldn’t sustain it and then we started to foul.”
Top performers for Brock against Ryerson were: Weinert, 14 points and 11 boards; Lawrence, 14 points and five rebounds; Madison Macinnis with six points and six rebounds; and, Jenneke Pilling, with six points.
Jama Bin-Edward netted 17 points to pace the Rams.
The appearance at nationals should pay huge dividends down the road for a very young Badger squad.
“Absolutely. The kids played their hearts out all weekend and I can’t fault that,” Rao said. “Today was disappointing but the kids played really, really hard and a lot of them were the young girls. We have 10 first-year players and they all got in. I’m glad they got that opportunity.”
Brock will lose fifth-year guard Mackenzie Robinson, a second team all-star, to graduation, while rock steady guard Pilling is graduating and has yet to decide what is next. Rao would love to have her return as she has two years of eligibility remaining.
He has been working hard on recruiting players, including a trip to visit Cegep schools in Quebec, and he is hopeful of bringing in some fresh talent.
“You never know until they sign on the dotted line or get to the campus but I am hoping. We are going after a few players and I think we have a good shot. If that is the case, I think we will be OK again.”
