March 6, 2015

Rams advance to championship with win against Gaels

The Ryerson Rams women’s basketball team is headed to its first ever OUA Championship game and with a 69-60 semifinal victory over Queen’s on Friday night, are also off to their first-ever CIS Final 8 tournament.

Queen's 12-8

Ryerson 17-3

Final

Queen's 12-8

Ryerson 17-3

(Courtesy of Ryerson Rams)

The Ryerson Rams women's basketball team is headed to its first ever OUA Championship game and with a 69-60 semifinal victory over Queen's on Friday night, are also off to their first-ever CIS Final 8 tournament.

First-year Ryerson forward Sofia Paska (Etobicoke, Ont.) had a game-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and added six rebounds to lead the Rams on Friday. Fellow freshman Cara Tiemens (Newmarket, Ont.) was also instrumental in the win, scoring 12 points.

Friday's semifinal marked the third time the Gaels and Rams met this season and the third time Ryerson came away victorious.

Ryerson built a 14-6 lead with 2:50 to go in the first quarter but Queen's responded with the final five points of the frame to make it a 14-11 Rams advantage through ten minutes.

In the second, the teams traded the lead back and forth until a great hustle play from Chloe Mago to save possession sparked a run from the Rams. Her save led to a Paska hoop which gave the Rams a 29-27 lead which they never relinquished. At the half, Ryerson led 35-27.

Queen's opened the second half with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to just one at 35-34, but Ryerson responded with good defensive play leading to transition buckets. After the Gaels run, the Rams outscored Queen's 21-5 to hold a commanding 56-40 lead after three quarters.

The Gaels began to chip away at the deficit and got down back to within seven at 67-60 with 1:30 to go but the comeback was too little, too late as Ryerson sealed the 69-60 victory.

When asked about what was said during the team's celebration at centre court, fifth-year senior Annie Sokoloff could not hide her excitement.

"I'm pretty sure I said to (Keneca Pingue-Giles), 'oh my god, we're going to nationals, I'm going to cry' (but) then it was 'okay, we still have the OUA championship tomorrow' so we're focusing on that."

"I don't think it's set in yet, to be honest," said Ryerson head coach Carly Clarke following the game. "That was a tough battle. We've got nothing to lose (tomorrow) so we've just got to come out and play and be ourselves. If we can stay in the moment and enjoy it then I think we can make a game of it."

Queen's guard Jenny Wright finished with a game-high 18 points while Abby Dixon added 12 and Liz Boag had ten points in the losing effort.

The Rams will face the No. 1 nationally ranked Windsor Lancers in Saturday's OUA Championship game. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. from Windsor's St. Denis Centre and can be seen live on OUA.tv.