MacEwan Athletics and TRU Athletics
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Going without game action for 20 days leading up to Friday's season opener added up to a rusty performance for the Griffins women's basketball team in a 72-58 loss at Thompson Rivers University.
"We had three weeks without competition and I think you could tell," explained head coach Katherine Adams. "We hadn't played in a while and we weren't competition ready. Thompson Rivers was playing last weekend. We got off to a slow start partially because of that."
After putting up a 53-48 win over York University on an Oct. 7 preseason road trip to Ontario, the Griffins have been just on the practice court since. And it showed early on Friday when they committed 20 of their 34 turnovers in the first half.
After three quarters, the Griffins found themselves behind 60-37.
If there's anything to take out of the evening into Saturday's rematch (6 p.m. MT, Canada West TV) it's that they outscored TRU 21-12 in the fourth quarter after figuring some things out.
"I thought we responded well in the second half," said Adams. "It's something to build on for tomorrow."
Kayla Ivicak led the Griffins with 16 points and four rebounds, while Brielle Wise had eight, and Kathryn Sutherland, Paige Knull and Mackenzie Farmer each chipped in seven.
Maddy Neuman, Emily Vilac and Chelsey Hoey each had 11 points for the WolfPack, which Michelle Bos narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine boards.
Adams will be looking to clean up the turnovers, many of which could be attributed to opening-night jitters.
"Turnovers that were completely in our control: bouncing it off our foot, passing to no one sometimes," she explained. "Those things are totally within our control.
"We have seven first-year kids: five of them were with us this weekend. For them, it is a big deal. This is their first U Sports game. Definitely, some nerves," she added. "On the other side, our fifth-year players are realizing this is their last year, their last season opener, their last road trip to Thompson Rivers. Hopefully we are past that and can move on for tomorrow."
