Ryerson comeback stuns Badger women; Brock men triumph

As losses go, this one will sting real bad.

Leading the Ryerson Rams 61-39 with 6:57 left in the Ontario University Athletics championship game, the Brock women’s basketball team gave up a 15-0 run to see the margin cut to 61-54 with 4:30 left in the game. Four straight free throws by Mackenzie Robinson seem to right the ship for the Badgers as they went up 67-56 with 2:51 left. But Brock’s inability to handle pressure saw Ryerson close regulation time with a 11-0 run that sent the game to overtime tied at 67-67. In overtime, Brock added to its game total of 33 turnovers and the defending OUA champs ended up on the wrong end of a 72-70 decision.

“It was not good. We didn’t break the pressure at the end of the game and it showed our deficiencies,” OUA coach of the year Mike Rao said. “We played OK throughout the game but our true colours came out at the end. We didn’t handle it well.”

Rao was taking no solace in the fact that his team had already qualified for nationals thanks to a victory over the Western Mustangs Wednesday.

“Not at this moment no. We were terrible with their pressure, we should have been better and we weren’t.”

Brock has dealt with other team’s presses competently all year but didn’t have an answer for Ryerson’s Saturday.

“We are what we are,” Rao said. “Individually we are not that talented but together we are. We just didn’t play together at the end. I wasn’t too happy because I thought we were too selfish. The ball stuck and that is not what we do.”

Rookie Madalyn Weinert turned in another outstanding for Brock. Coming off of a 24-points and 11-rebound performance in a  77-58 victory over Western in the OUA West championship game, the 5-foot-10 guard went off for 25 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.

“She is going to be a really good OUA player, but today we as a team weren’t,” Rao said.

The OUA All-Rookie Team member and her teammates cold only watch as Ryerson celebrated its big comeback.

“That was pretty difficult and not much fun, for sure,” Weinert said. “Their press came out and was really strong and we unfortunately not able to break is as well as we would have liked.”

The Eden alumnus is confident her team can put the loss behind it and perform well at nationals.

“We have a chip on our shoulder and we are ready to go” said Weinert, who admitted to already having said chip on her shoulder after not being named the OUA West rookie of the year. “The whole team has a chip on its shoulder now.”

Rao and the Badgers have plenty to look forward to besides Weinert. Stepping up and playing a solid game for Brock Saturday was Governor Simcoe product Allison Addy. The 5-foot-10 guard from St. Catharines had five points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in a season-high 19 minutes of playing time.

Addy was disappointed in the result like the rest of her teammates.

“It’s tough but they played great,” she said. “They pressured us and we just couldn’t hold it together for the last couple of minutes.”

Addy was thrilled to see so much playing time in the OUA championship game as a rookie.

“I just tried to keep my head down and work hard and try to contribute any way I could.”

She suffered a high ankle sprain in practice one day before the home opener and the injury kept her out of the lineup until the first game coming out of the pandemic pause that started before Christmas.

“We were playing one-on-one and I heard a snap, crackle, pop and there was instant swelling,” she said. “It was ‘Yup, that’s it.’ I was done.”

Addy credited Brock athletic therapy staff for getting her back in action 

“I had to work myself back in slowly doing mobility stuff.”

It was the first major injury of her basketball career and it was a difficult time for her.

“I just tried to work hard and I knew everyone around me was there to help me,” she said. “I tried to do the best I could with what I had. Once we came back, I listened to what Rao said when I went in no matter how many minutes I got.”

Addy knows what she needs to work on in the off-season to continue to develop as an OUA player.

“I have to get stronger because that is really important for rebounding and I have to get more aggressive on defence,” the 18-year-old said.

STATS PACK

Rams 72 Badgers 70 (OT)

BPSN player of the Game: Brock’s Madalyn Weinert with 25 points and 17 rebounds.

For the Brock Badgers: Weinert 25; Mackenzie Robinson 19; Ivana Twumasi 9; Victoria Lawrence 5; Allison Addy 5.

For the Ryerson Rams: Jama Bin-Edward 23; Mikaela Dodig 12; Kyla Giles 8; Rachel Farwell 8.

Game stats: Shooting percentage: Brock 42.2, Ryerson 29.7. Free throws: Brock 10-16, Ryerson 7-15. Rebounds: Brock 47, Ryerson 46. Turnovers: Brock 33, Ryerson 15.

Up next: Both teams advance to next week’s UPSPORTS championships.

BADGERS 95 GOLDEN GAELS 75

The Brock Badgers men’s basketball team won the OUA championship Saturday afternoon with an 95-75 victory over the visiting Queen’s Golden Gaels.

Brock built quarter leads of 24-15, 45-33 and 70-47 to record the win.

Leading the way for Brock were: Tajinder Lall with 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists; Daniel Caldwell with 17 points; Godsman Kwakwah with 15 points and eight rebounds; and, Kascius Small-Martin with 12.

Queen’s was powered by Henry Van and Cole Syllas with 18 points each.