TORONTO – The No. 4 Ryerson Rams women's basketball team put in a dominating performance in their season opener, cruising to a 78-36 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues on Wednesday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

BOXSCORE

Keneca Pingue-Giles (Winnipeg, Man.) had a game-high 17 points and added six steals and five assists to lead the Rams while Cara Tiemens (Newmarket, Ont.) and Sofia Paska (Etobicoke, Ont.) each added 13 points in the win.

Paska and Siki Jez (Kitchener, Ont.) had big nights on the glass, each picking up 14 rebounds which ties them for seventh in Ryerson history for rebounds in a game. As a team the Rams finished with 72 rebounds, setting a new team record.

“Some of Sofia's rebounds came from her missing shots she might normally make so she'd probably like to see more shots go in and a few less rebounds, actually, but I think that's a testament to her and how far she's come,” said head coach Carly Clarke following the game. “She keeps making second efforts when she misses.”

The Rams were off and running right from the get go on Wednesday, outscoring Toronto 19-0 through the first 7:20 of the game. At the end of ten minutes Ryerson had a comfortable 21-6 lead.



Toronto shored up their defence in the second quarter as the Rams were held to 12 points, their lowest quarter output on the night. Ryerson also held the Blues to 12 points in the frame so the teams headed to half with the Rams leading 33-18.

It was more of the Rams dominant defence in the second half, limiting the Blues to another 18 total points to finish the game allowing less than 40 points.

“I thought the game was great – if you can hold any team to under 40 points it's an achievement in itself,” noted Pingue-Giles after the win.

Toronto's Emily Piccini had a team-high nine points in the loss.

The Rams are back in action next Wednesday, November 11 when they travel to Hamilton to take on the McMaster Marauders who opened the season ranked No. 1 in the country. The battle of nationally ranked teams is set for 6:00 p.m. and can be seen live on OUA.tv