Queen's Women's Basketball opened the U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 Championship with an exciting 75-72 overtime win over the UQAM Citadins Thursday in Sydney, N.S.
With the overtime win, the No. 3 seed Gaels advanced to the semifinals on Saturday, where they will play the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between the No. 2 seed Alberta Pandas and No. 7 seed Acadia Axewomen.
Emma Weltz (Timmins, Ont.) and
Bridget Mulholland (Kingston, Ont.) had big performances for Queen's in the win, with Weltz recording a game-high 29 points and Mulholland finishing with a double-double, recording 12 points and grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. Both players were big down the stretch and into overtime with Mulholland hitting a number of key free throws and Weltz securing the win with a steal in the dying seconds before UQAM could set up a potential game-tying shot.
"I thought it was a gritty win," said Queen's Head Coach
Claire Meadows after the game. "We weathered a lot of different storms throughout the game and I thought we did a really good job closing out the game and then taking care of business in overtime."
Gallery: (3-9-2023) Queen's Gaesls - Quarterfinals
The game was tight all game long with the Citadins holding a small lead throughout most of the first three quarters. Queen's trailed by two points after the first quarter and four points at half before cutting UQAM's lead to two points heading into the final frame and tying the game late to force overtime. The Gaels would build a six-point lead in overtime, their biggest lead of the game, and hold on for the three-point win.
Julia Chadwick (Ottawa, Ont.) also scored in double digits in the win, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds, while Bella Belvedere added eight points.
Queen's played strong defence all game, holding UQAM to 38 per cent shooting from the floor and 28 per cent from beyond the arc, while scoring 24 points off turnovers. Queen's shot 39 per cent from the floor and 26 per cent from three-point range.
The Gaels will be back in action Saturday with a spot in the U SPORTS national championship game.
"We're going to watch the next game and turn around a pretty quick scout with regards to whoever wins the next one," said Meadows.
