Strong team performance seals bronze for basketball women
Following a disappointing loss in their semifinal match-up British Columbia’s women’s basketball team bounced back to win bronze, 56-48 over Alberta, at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games on Aug. 11.
“It feels really, really good,” said Team BC guard Ashlyn Day (Kelowna), who had a game-high 13 points. “It’s disappointing that we lost in the semifinal but it’s still nice to end on a win and go home with a medal. Today we pushed in transition really well and that’s what we do best.”
Day led BC in scoring as the only player in the match to hit double digits, while Imogen White (Victoria) added nine points and Courtney Donaldson (Kelowna) added eight. Alberta was led in scoring by five-foot-ten Lauren Cardinal with nine points, while Tia Heggie and Hannah Gibb contributed seven and six points, respectively.
The opening quarter saw some great offensive execution by both teams. BC guard Day hit a baseline three to get the scoring going but seven-straight points from Alberta including a long three from Makenna Ledgister (Edmonton) got Alberta up 7-5. Two from the line and a nice layup from Dina Strujic (Vancouver) got BC back on track as another three-point shot from Day gave BC a 15-13 edge entering the second.
BC showed in the second quarter their depth of play as eight different players got on the board to out-score Alberta 19-8. Both Lindsey Bott (Burnaby) and Katrina Kwong (Vancouver) hit from beyond the arc for BC, while Alberta were forced to take most of their second-quarter points from the charity stripe. Emotion was evident as bodies were sprawling on the floor to force a jump ball but BC’s grit under the hoop earned them the defensive rebounds they needed to transition forward. As a result BC grabbed a 34-21 lead entering the third quarter.
The third quarter saw Alberta charge back thanks to quality play in the paint from Leah Hagel (Sylvan Lake). The six-foot-two forward helped Alberta go on a late 6-0 run that got them back within nine points. Alberta edged BC in scoring 16-14 and were denied multiple second-chance opportunities because of the strong rebounding from BC’s Azalya Forstbauer (Cawston). The five-foot-eleven forward was a force under the hoop defensively as BC led 48-37 entering the final stretch.
“I really thought our team allowed our defensive energy to flow into our offensive side of things,” said Team BC head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. “We had some great rotations, box outs and to have two athletes that are almost double digits in defensive boards tells me they got after it.”
In the fourth quarter BC continued their two-way quality play with an early 6-0 early scoring run and some big blocks in their defensive end. It was 40 minutes of solid basketball as BC maintained their rhythm to the final buzzer and ultimately secure bronze 56-48 over Alberta.
“I was really proud of how the team recovered from yesterday,” added Jean-Paul after the win. “They started strong and stayed together as a team which was probably the most important thing for us. We had some really good contributions from everybody. It really was a team victory today for us.”
SCORING SUMMARY
BC: 15-19-14-8 : 56
ALB: 13-8-16-11 : 46
SCORING LEADERS
BC: Ashlyn Day (13), Imogen White (9), Courtney Donaldson (8)
ALB: Lauren Cardinal (9), Tia Heggie (7), Hannah Gibb (6)