Amber Doyle, Bison Sports
WINNIPEG - The Trinity Western Spartans came into the second half with renewed energy to top the Manitoba Bisons 80-66 in women's basketball at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Friday.
"We stuck to our game plan," said Trinity Western's head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "Manitoba can score a lot of points very quickly and so we wanted to make sure we didn't give them the ball back."
Both the Bisons and the Spartans are heading into crunch time as two middle-of-the-pack teams looking to secure a playoff spot. The Spartans (9-6) snapped a three-game losing streak with Friday's win, while the Bisons (6-9) have lost two straight.
In the opening half, the Bisons zeroed in on their opponent's three-point opportunities, forcing the Spartans to go just 2-12 from the beyond the arc. Trinity Western had the best three-point shooting percentage in the league (38.8%) going into Friday's game.
Also in the first half, the Bisons stepped up to the plate on offence. Throughout the season, the team has knocked down an average 35.8% of their field goals. On Friday, the Herd landed an impressive 45.9% before halftime.
The Spartans held a narrow 22-19 lead to finish the first quarter, but Bisons wiggled their way into the lead in the second. The Herd went on to close out the second with a 40-36 lead.
The game momentum flipped on its head after halftime. The Spartans put up 14 unanswered points to kick off the third quarter. Nearly four minutes passed on the clock before the Bisons added to their side of the score. Trinity Western out-scored the Bisons 29-9 in the quarter, giving themselves a sizable 65-49 lead going into the fourth.
"We had a slow start," said Bisons head coach Michele Sung. "Nothing they did surprised us. We beat ourselves today."
Most notably, the Spartans sparked some momentum from the three-point line. They knocked down 80% off their shots from beyond the arc, which contributed 12 of their points in the third quarter.
"We just didn't get up on defence," said Sung. "They could pretty much do whatever they wanted… we just have to play consistently on both sides of the ball for 40 minutes."
The Spartans also led the way off the glass. They had a total of 57 boards to Manitoba's 36. Trinity Western's first-year forward Nicole Fransson was responsible for 15 grabs, and fifth-year forward Tessa Ratzlaff was responsible for 11. Both Fransson and Ratzlaff earned double-doubles as Fransson put up 16 points and Ratzlaff added 21.
On Manitoba's side of the court, third-year forward Addison Martin led the way with 15 points and third-year guard Taylor Randall contributed 14.
The same teams play again on Saturday, Jan. 19 at Investors Group Athletic Centre. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.