The Rams were up by significant margins at a couple of points throughout the game, but the Golden Hawks came back from a double-digit deficit in the second half by draining 27 points in the final quarter to record the win.

"We have to focus on executing and doing our thing offensively," said a frustrated Head Coach Charles Kissi after the contest. "We make a great play at one end and come down and commit a foul. It was like we were trying to make things difficult for ourselves."

The Rams went on an 8-0 run to start the contest, but the Golden Hawks answered back with ten straight. The squads would then trade buckets, with Ryerson holding a slim 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

After going down by six in the second, the Rams streaked again for seven straight, with Ashley MacDonald (Port Colborne, Ont.) and Kelsey Wright (Brampton, Ont.) combining to sink five-of-six free throws to give the advantage back to Ryerson. A jumper from beyond the arc by MacDonald with 40 seconds left in the half and a hard block by Alexandrea Tkaczyk (Cambridge, Ont.) right at the buzzer gave the Rams a 28-24 lead going into the locker rooms.

Both sides were a bit sloppy out of the gate in this their season-opening contest, combining for 21 turnovers and a 32% field goal percentage by the halftime whistle. Angela Tilk in particular struggled from the free throw line, missing her first four attempts in the opening 20 minutes.

However, the Rams got the upper hand early in the second half and after a nice penetration and lay-up by Dayana Gechkova (Sofia, Bulagaria), Annie Sokoloff (North Vancouver, B.C.) drained to foul shots to put Ryerson up by eight.

Kurt answered with a lay-in plus the harm, but rookie Silvana Jez (Kitchener, Ont.) quickly followed that up with a three from the corner, and Wright gave the Rams their first double-digit lead at 40-30 with just over two minutes left in the third.

Kurt then drained a couple of shots from the foul-line again, and Laura Doyle's long range hoop kept Laurier within striking distance.

Down by seven going into the final quarter, Christa Mancino scored four straight points for Laurier, and after Kelsey Wright was blocked at one end, a Felecia Mazerolle fast break lay-up quickly cut the Ryerson lead to just one. Mancino gave her team the advantage less than three minutes into the fourth with a lay-in on the next possession.

Doyle was sent to the line and sunk both her free throws but MacDonald answered with a jumper as the game was notched 52-52 with four minutes to play. However, the Golden Hawks continued to drive to the hoop and were fouled on three straight occasions. They capitalized on all six free throws to spread a four-point lead over Ryerson.

Wright hit a critical three with 1:45 to go, pulling the Rams within a point of Laurier. She then forced a turnover on the Golden Hawks next possession, but the Rams gave the ball right back at the other end of the floor. Wright then picked up a board off a missed shot, but Ryerson could not capitalize and another fast break lay-up by Mazerolle spread the lead to three with 37.4 seconds to go.

Jez missed an attempted three, and the Golden Hawks hit all of their final free throws to clinch their first victory of the year. MacDonald tallied 18 points while Wright chipped in 11 for Ryerson, who finished with a 32.2 field-goal percentage.

The Rams are back in action tomorrow evening at Kerr Hall Gym, hosting the Waterloo Warriors at 6:00 p.m. You can watch the game online on the Live Video page at www.ryersonrams.ca