TORONTO – The No. 8 Ryerson Rams women's basketball team gutted out an 80-77 victory to knock off the No. 7 ranked McMaster Marauders on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
BOXSCORE
Keneca Pingue-Giles (Winnipeg, Man.) netted a game-high 25 points to go along with nine rebounds and six assists to lead the Rams to victory.
“After our last two losses to Carleton and Toronto I think this one was a big confidence builder. Every other game from here on out is going to be a tough one and we have to be prepared to play those top teams,” said Pingue-Giles at the end of the game.
Ryerson started hot from the floor, opening a 12-0 lead, and played solid defence to negate a McMaster basket until the 6:20 mark. The Rams held onto a ten point, 25-15 lead after ten minutes.
The Ryerson offence continued to click in the second quarter and 10-0 run in the middle of the frame sparked by back-to-back three pointers from Mariah Nunes (Ajax, Ont.) gave the Rams a commanding 41-24 lead.
McMaster got back to within 12 points near the end of the quarter but a buzzer beating deep three ball from Pingue-Giles sent the Rams to the locker room up 49-34.
As hot as the Rams offence was in the first half, Ryerson scuffled in the third quarter, posting just seven points. McMaster took full advantage and scored 20 of their own to erase the deficit and make it a 56-54 Ryerson advantage heading to the final frame.
The offensive woes were quickly erased in the fourth as Ryerson opened the quarter on a 15-3 run to establish a 71-57 lead with 5:35 to go. From there it was McMaster's turn to go on a run, scoring 17 of the next 23 points to once again erase the deficit and make it a one point game at 77-76 with 1:05 remaining.
With 0:26 left on the clock, Rams forward Sofia Paska (Etobicoke, Ont.) made one free throw to make it 78-76. On the ensuing possession, McMaster's Allyson Schweitzer was fouled and could only make one of two free throws, giving Ryerson the ball back with a one-point lead. Veteran Siki Jez (Kitchener, Ont.) was then fouled and calmly knocked down both her free throw attempts to seal the 80-77 victory for the Rams.
In addition to Pingue-Giles' performance, three other Rams reached double digits including Jez with 18 points and nine rebounds, Nunes with 13 points and Paska with ten points. Annie Sokoloff (North Vancouver, B.C.) had a game-high 12 rebounds.
“I think we had a few lapses here and there but that's expected against one of the top teams in the country,” said head coach Carly Clarke on her team's performance. “We emphasized rebounding…and offensive execution (in practice this week) and I think we did a much better job of both those things today and they were a difference in the game.”
McMaster was led by Hilary Hanka's 22 points while Danielle Boiago added 19 and Rachael Holmes finished with 12.
The Rams improve to 7-3 on the season while McMaster falls to 6-4. Ryerson is back in action this Wednesday, January 14 when they host the York Lions at 6:00 p.m.