Alyssa Etsell, Bison Sports
WINNIPEG—Despite a near point-for-point first half, the Trinity Western Spartans surged ahead in the second to take the game 68-60 against the University of Manitoba Bisons on Saturday night (Jan. 19) at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
The game was highly physical, which Spartan head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul noted really tends to wear a team down.
"We talked about that going into today's game – that they were going to have to physically push back from the loss yesterday," said Jean-Paul. "They did that and we needed to weather that, and I thought that's what the results showed."
The weekend on the road was a sweep for Trinity Western, who won yesterday's matchup 80-66. With the wins, the visitors improve their record to 10-6. With the losses, Manitoba's record moves to 6-10.
In the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, the Bisons hit the basket just once, but tried to fight back late in the half. At the two-minute mark, the home team had shortened the visitors' lead to within ten points. Jessie Brown didn't let that stand for long and quickly added a three-pointer for the Spartans. Two fouls by the Bisons pushed the score further in Trinity Western's favour and sealed the win at 68-60.
"Overall, I think we left two ends on the table, so I'm pretty disappointed with the weekend," said Bison head coach Michele Sung.
"There were points today where some people executed what we were trying to do really well, and then there were moments where we forgot what the game plan was. When you play an experienced team like them, they're going to make you play for it and they did."
Spartan Tessa Ratzlaff led in points with 21, while Bison Claire Harvey chocked 16 points. Ratzlaff also led her team in rebounds with 11, while Sarah Buckingham got six assists. For the Bisons, Nicole Konieczny netted nine rebounds, and both Taylor Randall and Konieczny tied for most assists at three.
In the third, the Spartans nudged themselves to a ten-point lead early on, the widest difference in score the game had seen so far. In the last half of the period, scoring was rare with two entire minutes passing, and only three points added to the scoreboard. A last-minute steal by Kianna Weins led to a breakaway, with Ratzlaff netting the rebound. The play let TWU enter the last quarter with a lead of 14 points (54-40).
Earlier in the game, play was fairly equally matched with the first quarter ending in a tie (15-15). Late in the first half, Trinity Western pulled ahead for the first time in the game, and headed into the second half with a seven-point lead (37-30).
Sung said for the Bisons, the focus will be on maintaining a sense of urgency throughout the matchups next weekend.
"It's all about building momentum, that if we do get the chance to play in playoffs, we are ready to do that," she said.
Next up, the Bisons play away and will take on the Thompson Rivers WolfPack next weekend, Jan. 25. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. PST. Trinity Western continues on the road and takes on the Lethbridge Pronghorns next on the 25th at 6 p.m. MST. You can catch both of these match-ups live online at CanadaWest.TV.