KINGSTON, Ont (February 9, 2018) - The No. 8 Gaels (16-4) were upset by the Toronto Varsity Blues (8-12) 79-76 after climbing out of a 14 point deficit. Toronto was able to hit their shots in the late stages of the game to fend off the Queen's comeback.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels got out to an early lead thanks to a step-back triple by
Marianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont.) but struggled to find the basket afterwards, missing their next five shots. The Varsity Blues took advantage of this and managed to take the lead. Their scoring woes ended after a fast break layup by
Sophie de Goede (Victoria). Toronto came out with more energy, and it translated on the scoreboard. After a buzzer-beating three-pointer by
Emma Ritcey (Orillia, Ont.) to end the first, Queen's trailed the Varsity Blues 22-13.
Lavergne saw the floor for the first time at the start of the second and got the first points for the Gaels. She also recorded a block on the defensive end. The Varsity Blues maintained their lead throughout the second, but the Gaels kept it close, with baskets by de Goede,
Myriam Fontaine (Cornwall, Ont.) and
Abby Dixon (North Vancouver, B.C.). Toronto played the more athletic game in the second and walked away holding the lead 43-31.
The Gaels came out of halftime storming offensively. They were doing the dirty work in the paint, collecting boards and making tough layups. Fontaine blocked a pass and found de Goede running down the court and finished beautifully in the paint, forcing a Toronto timeout. The Varsity Blues were continually making mistakes defensively, which the Gaels took advantage of with free-throws. Queen's cut their deficit down to six at the end of the third.
Alarie got herself back on the scoreboard with a big three-pointer earlier in the fourth which she soon followed up on the defensive end with a block. The Gaels took the lead for the first time since the opening quarter on a layup by Dixon. The Gaels found their rhythm offensively, but the Varsity Blues kept it close. It was a shootout late in the fourth, and it looked like it would come down to one or two plays to decide the game. The back and fourth continued until it was tied up 72-72 with just over a minute. Alarie went 1-2 from the stripe to bring it to a one-point Gaels lead. The Varsity Blues came back going 2-2 from the stripe themselves. After Priamo knocked down a pair of free-throws, the Blues hit a short jumper to retake the lead, forcing Coach David Wilson to take a timeout. De Goede drove in and got herself to the line, going 1-2. The Blues retook their lead with a layup, forcing another timeout. Down by two with 15 seconds left, Alarie found herself open from three, but could not connect. Toronto hung on for the victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
44 - The Gaels recorded 44 rebounds on the night
20 - Sophie De Goede led the team in scoring with 20 points setting a new career high for the rookie as she made her first career start
57% - The Varsity Blues shot 57% from three
FINAL SAY
"We wanted to go back to basics. We're not a great shooting team, but we're not a bad shooting team, we just had a bad shooting game. Down the stretch, I just thought we didn't do a good job of stopping them." -Â Head Coach David WilsonÂ
UP NEXT
The Gaels are back in action tomorrow night taking on the Ryerson Rams, with tipoff at 6 pm. Catch all the action on OUA.tvÂ
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