Calgary, ALTA. — The Mount Royal University Cougars women's basketball team faced the University of Alberta Pandas for their second last home game of the regular season. The Cougars battled it out for four quarters but fell short of victory, 53-67 for the Pandas.
The first quarter had a bit of a slow start as both Cougars and Pandas defenses were suffocating on each end of the court.
Jenika Martens did put up a quick 2 points within the first 30 seconds of the game, but there was a scoreless run for nearly 3 minutes. Reece Hall finally got the Pandas on the board with two layups. Things began to slowly trickle down after these buckets made by Hall. Efforts from
Jamie Lalor,
Jenessa Ramsoomair,
Nora Luca,
Temi Ajayi, and Martens combined for 12 points. Hall and Annacy Palmer kept the Pandas up with 8 points for a 12-8 score at the end of the first quarter.
Ajayi and Hall continued to attack the rim on both ends of the court, exchanging 2 quick points each for their respective teams to start the second quarter.
Hayley Lalor took the ball from coast to coast and finished a one-on-one match with a layup, extending the Cougars to 16-10. A steal from Jenna Karach eventually led to Karach finishing in the paint for two points. Asha Donelly then responded with a corner three-pointer, sinking her shot for a 7 point lead for the Cougars. Soon after, Jayden Tanner earned a trip to the charity stripe and made both shots. With nearly back-to-back layups, Hall and Tanner broke past the Cougars for the first time of the night, 20-19. Returning from a timeout,
Maddy Hooper fired off a corner three as the Cougars' shot clock neared its end. Despite taking an offensive foul from the previous Pandas possession, Tanner returned to hit a corner three to keep the Pandas one point ahead, 23-22. Entering halftime, the Pandas would still lead 23-22 after putting up 15 points in the second quarter alone.
Rylee Semeniuk commenced the scoring in the second half with a deep jump shot three, 26-22. Martens cleaned up an offensive rebound and sealed it away with 2 points down low. Not long after, Claire Signatovich scored her second and third buckets to keep the Pandas up with a 3 point lead, 30-27. Luca and
Megan Wellinghurst worked to keep the Cougars' deficit to 3 points, 30-33. Then Donelly drained her second three of the night, leaving the Cougars to trail by 2. But Signatovich and Palmer's offensive front would push the Pandas up to 48-37 with Palmer making 3 three-pointers during this scoring run. Tanner concluded the third quarter's scoring with a triple. The Pandas scored 28 points in this quarter with Signatovich earning 11 of those points.
The Cougars were not letting go without a battle as Martens found her third bucket once again in the paint to kick off the fourth quarter. Signatovich continued to find success at the rim, earning 6 points down low. With a look at the top of the arc, Luca made the triple for the Cougars to trail behind 57-44. The Cougars continued to fight for rebounds and found H. Lalor scoring 2 buckets off these efforts. After a quick layup from Palmer, Luca exchanged for another three in the following possession to keep the Cougars deficit within 10 points. However, the Pandas pushed their offense and found Palmer with an open lane to the rim, 63-51 for the Pandas. Hall and Semeniuk capped off the final quarter with 2 additional layups for a final score of 67-53 for the Pandas.
Tonight's players of the game are
Hayley Lalor and Annacy Palmer. Lalor scored 8 points, earned 4 rebounds and 1 steal, while generating 3 of those points off turnovers. Meanwhile, Palmer cashed in 15 points with 3 triples, 2 steals, and a block.
The Cougars will have a rematch against the Pandas tomorrow night with tip off at 5 p.m. MST.
