GEE-GEES SQUEAK PAST LADY RAMS

By: Ben Fisher                                                                                         Posted Jan 16, 2010

TORONTO, Ont. -- The Ryerson Rams women’s basketball team had a chance to tie or even win the game with one second left but Kelsey Wright’s shot was blocked as the Ottawa Gee-Gees held on for a 60-58 win at Kerr Hall on Saturday night.

The game was fairly even for all four quarters with neither team taking advantage in a very defensive final quarter.

The Rams had three players score in double digits with guard Ashley MacDonald (Port Colborne, Ont.) leading the way with 12 points. MacDonald’s 12 were powered off three three-pointers. Lacey O’Sullivan (Port Colborne, Ont.) netted 11 points and Lisa Goldring (Burlington, Ont.) had another strong performance, adding 11 points to go along with her five steals. Wright (Brampton, Ont.) scored nine points in the loss. Angela Tilk (Welland, Ont.) led all rebounders in the game with nine.

Ottawa also had three players in double-digits. Melina Wishart (Ottawa) scored a game-high 17 points Wishart also led her team in rebounds with six. Emilie Morasse (Quebec City) and Hannah Sunley-Paisley (Toronto) each scored 12 points for the Gee-Gees in the win. Sunley-Paisley also came up with five steals for the Gee-Gees.

Much like the score, shooting was even between the two teams with Ottawa edging the Rams 39 percent to 38 percent from the floor. Ryerson out-shot the Gee-Gees from beyond the arc, 35 percent to 31 percent, but Ottawa got to the foul line and hit more free throws, 15-11.

Rebounds were also even, with the Rams edging Ottawa 31-29. The Gee-Gees won the turnover battle 22-20.

Rams head coach Sandy Pothier was more disappointed, not that her team couldn’t pull out the win in the dying seconds, but that the score was even close enough that her team had to.

“I didn’t think it was one of our best games,” said Pothier. “We didn’t execute our game plan the way we needed to and I really thought it shouldn’t have been even close if we executed better.”
Pothier thought that after Friday night’s big win, her team wasn’t as mentally disciplined for tonight’s game against Ottawa.

With the loss, Ryerson’s record drops to 8-6 on the season. The Rams are tied for third place in the OUA East with the Gee-Gees (8-5), who have a game in hand.

Ryerson is on the road next weekend, taking on York and Laurentian while Ottawa hosts RMC and Queen’s.

GEE-GEES TOO STRONG FOR RAMS

TORONTO, Ont - The Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team kept it close in the first half, but the No. 9 Ottawa Gee-Gees started to pull away in the third quarter and ended up defeating the Rams 92-63 at Kerr Hall on Saturday night.

Ryerson was consistently out-rebounded by the Gee-Gees on ends of the court and couldn’t contain Ottawa’s hot shooters, en route to the 29-point loss.

Although Ryerson had a tough time on the offensive side of the ball, one Ram had a big game. Forward Boris Bakovic (Toronto) led all scorers on the night with 33 points. Bakovic got to the foul line 23 times, six more than the entire Gee-Gees team, hitting 15 free throws. Matthew Lapointe (Burlington, Ont.) added eight points for the Rams. Luke Stanicia (Pefferlaw, Ont.) led Ryerson in rebounds with eight.

Ottawa had five players hit double-digits with Donnie Gibson (Kingston, Ont.) scoring a team-high 21 points. Josh Gibson-Bascombe (Toronto) netted 19 points and added 11 assists for the game’s only double-double. Kemeish Edwards (Brampton, Ont.) added 13 points off perfect 3-for-3 three-point shooting and Max Clarkson (Peterborough, Ont.) and Matt Riendeau (Ottawa) scored 10 points each for Ottawa in the win. Warren Ward (London, Ont.) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Ottawa was hot shooting all night, hitting 50 percent from the floor compared to Ryerson’s 32 percent, and 52 percent from three-point range compared to just 10 percent for the Rams. Thanks to Bakovic, the Rams did get to the foul line more than the Gee-Gees, hitting 27 of their 38 free throws compared to just 11 of 17 for Ottawa.

Ottawa out-rebounded the Rams, grabbing 10 more boards, 38-28, and also won the turnover battle 17-13.

Rams head coach Roy Rana alluded to Ottawa’s hot shooting as a reason that the team pulled away in the second half.

“They shot the ball really well, and we didn’t,” said Rana. “I think that was a big difference in the game.

Rana looked at this weekend, where the Rams played the top two teams in their division, as a building block for his team.

“A weekend like this is good to gauge where your team is at, go back to practice, and continue to get better.”

With the loss, Ryerson’s third in a row, the Rams record falls to 4-8. Despite two losses this weekend, Ryerson remains in sixth place in the division. The win improves Ottawa’s record to 10-2 on the season and the Gee-Gees hold on to second in the division. Ryerson is in action next weekend, traveling to York and Laurentian.

 

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