Mastering the playoff path
Women’s basketball team advances to provincial semifinals
WHILE CLASSES WERE set to pause for students over reading week, the hoops post-season stayed in play for the University of Ottawa women’s basketball team. As the fourth seed in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East, the Gee-Gees (12-10) hosted the fifth-place Laurentian Lady Vees (12-10) at Montpetit Hall Feb. 17. The quarterfinal contest was relatively close until the Gees lifted the anchor in the second half and sailed away to a 77-67 win. The victory sent Ottawa to Toronto on Feb. 20, where they upset the second-seeded Ryerson Rams (14-8) by a score of 84-74.
“We all knew it was a big playoff game that we worked for all season,” said fourth-year guard Melina Wishart, following the Laurentian game. “[Gee-Gees head coach Andy Sparks] had [a] perfect game plan, and we knew as long as we executed that we’d be fine.”
“I hoped we could get the tempo to a level that was good for us, and I think we generally did that,” said Sparks. “I think we tired them out a bit; we got some transition. I think we still need to improve in a lot of areas, and we [have] to improve by [Feb. 20]. So [there is] not a lot of time left to do that, but there [were] a lot of positives.”
While third-year centre Hannah Sunley-Paisley—ranked first in the OUA with 415 total points—had a game-high 20 points, the Lady Vees were able to keep her scoring to a minimum until the third quarter. Wishart scored on a lay up in the last few seconds of the frame to give the Gees a commanding 59-42 lead.
“It always feels good to go out there and my teammates play well with me. We just pushed it, they got tired, and we took advantage of that transition,” said Wishart. “They had slower feet than us in the third quarter and we took advantage of that.”
The home-turf advantage for the Gees was compounded by the fact that Lady Vees head coach Mike Clark could not make the game.
“Their coach was unable to make it down,” explained Sparks. “He got taken to the hospital last night, so I think that may have affected them a little bit.
“We just [have] to look forward to the next game. It’s the playoffs ... one game you move on, one game you don’t,” he continued. “We [have] to be a little better than we were tonight.”
The win sent the Gees on the road Feb. 20 to play the second-seeded Rams in the OUA East semifinal. Ottawa had a strong start to the game as they outscored Ryerson 26-19 in the first quarter. Although the Rams stifled the Gees defensively in the second frame, the visiting team was still in front 37-32 by halftime.
Ottawa narrowly won each of the final two quarters to preserve their lead and win the semifinal match. Although Sunley-Paisley was limited to just 10 points, other Gees stepped up their games: third-year guard Emilie Morasse fired 21 points and was five-for-six from beyond the arc; rookie Kizzy Clarke added 19 points and shot 75 per cent from the field.
With the wins, Ottawa advances to the OUA East final. They will play the first-seeded Carleton Ravens (18-4) on Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. at the Ravens’ Nest.
