Matt Packwood, Brandon University Athletics
BRANDON, Man. – In the final game of the conference schedule the Brandon Bobcats saved some magic for the end of the year. The Bobcats rallied for a 76-71 win to close the season with a weekend sweep over the Mount Royal Cougars on Saturday night.
Four Bobcats finished in double figures and Lauren Anderson concluded her varsity career with another double-double despite spending much of the second half on the bench due to foul trouble.
The fact that next year's team was on the floor down the stretch was not lost on Anderson following the game.
"Seeing how the team stepped up in the third and fourth quarter and handled it and held it down and got us back in to the lead and into a better spot to close out the game it was really great," Anderson said.
"It's always nice to go out on two wins but to end your career like that it's awesome."
It was another track meet early as the two teams ran the floor and hit big shots, which was punctuated by Hailey Maas' trey to close out the first quarter with BU trailing 22-18.
The score remained close for the remainder of the first half as much of the drama was saved for the second half.
Anderson picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter forcing her to the bench, but a few minutes later fellow senior Josie DeGagne hit a triple to tie the game at 45-45 midway through the third.
Mount Royal would not score for the next four minutes but did claw their way back to a one point deficit in the final two minutes
Anderson subbed back in with 6:56 left in the fourth which provided her the opportunity to hit a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left to ice it for Brandon.
Anderson's 11 points and 11 rebounds were the lone double-double for Brandon while Logan Biccum finished with a game-high 18 points. Adrianna Proulx finished with 17 points while Hailey Maas had 12.
Charity Marlatt also registered a double-double, pacing the Cougars with 15 points and 14 rebounds while Maddison Hooper had 17 points and Marnie Garner had 12.
The win concludes the Canada West conference season for both teams as Brandon finishes the campaign with a record of 5-15 and Mount Royal is at 2-18.
Photo courtesy Milana Paddock