Calgary, ALTA. — A Friday night fuelled with intensity and physicality on Kenyon Court ended up a heartbreak loss for the Cougars against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen, 76-72.
The visiting Winnipeg Wesmen came onto the court with high energy which found them with 8 points within the first 2 minutes. The Wesmen's point guard Raia Guinto made her presence known immediately as she would make a trip to the free throw line, making both shots. Right after, Guinto made a steal that would end in a quick layup for the Wesmen. Consequently,
Nora Luca made a contested jump-shot three and
Maddy Hooper would drain another three to trail behind the Wesmen by 2 points early into the first quarter. There would be a scoreless run for almost 4 minutes as both teams struggled to find the net. With two back-to-back threes, made by Hooper and
Jamie Lalor, and a transition layup from Janessa Ramsoomair, the Cougars climbed past the Wesmen for the first time, 19-16.
Entering the second quarter, the Cougars were up 23-18 and Asha Donelly would make a jump-shot three to start off the scoring. Despite the Wesmen's tough defense,
Jenika Martens beat her defenders at the baseline for a quick 2 points. Sadie McMillan-Stowards drained a tough three as the shot clock began to reach zero. This shot by McMillan-Stowards ignited Martens to make another layup and set up
Hayley Lalor for her first points of the night, a three-pointer. Altogether, the energy and pace was high as Luca and Jennifer Kallon would exchange buckets in the paint for their teams. Before a Wesmen timeout, Donelly fired off another three to chip away at a Cougars' deficit within 5 points.
On paper, the third quarter seemed to be a slow one. On the floor, the Wesmen and Cougars were battling through steal after steal but coming up short on shots. Just under half way through the quarter, the Wesmen's physicality turned into foul trouble as
Marissa Richards, Luca, and Ramsoomair would head to the charity stripe and earn 4 points to send the Cougars up, 48-46. Sequentially, a steal from Luca led to Ramsoomair dancing in the paint, making a mid-range jumper. The Wesmen's defense continued to face difficulties as the Cougars carried on to the free throw line on almost every possession, which led to the Cougars stretching their lead to 11 points.
Jazmin Birch opened the fourth quarter by making a quick bucket down low as she found herself alone as the Cougars defense collapsed onto her teammate on the other side. Shortly into the fourth quarter, the Cougars would be on the receiving end of foul trouble where the Wesmen capitalized on these opportunities to make a comeback from their deficit. The Wesmen were not going away easy as Anna Kernghan drained a deep three to trail by a point, 63-62 for the Cougars. The atmosphere only began to intensify as both teams were determined to walk away with a win. Jasia Hayden showed up as a light for the Wesmen as her efforts would tie the game to 67-67 with just under 2 minutes left in this matchup. McMillan-Stowards would momentarily halt the energy in Kenyon Court as she made a deep three then an immediate steal to set up Kallon for a layup, sending the Wesmen 70-69. A quick timeout allowed the Cougars to regroup as Martens returned to fire away another deep three. With 20 seconds left on the clock and the Wesmen being up by two points, a Cougars attempt to tie the game was blocked by Kallon. The Wesmen would finish the game by securing two more free throws in bonus. The final score is 76-72 for the Winnipeg Wesmen.
The MVPs for tonight's game are
Jenika Martens and Sadie McMillan-Stowards. Martens earned 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals. McMillan-Stowards made 11 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists to help her team claim victory tonight.
The Cougars will return to Kenyon Court tomorrow in a rematch against the Wesmen at 5 p.m. MST.
