Photo by: Charlie Martin

Starting 4-0, the Brock women’s basketball team looked to continue their perfect season on Friday Nov. 18. Facing off against the also undefeated Waterloo Warriors, the Badgers faced a tough task.

The Badgers scored six of the first eight points and held that four point lead throughout most of the first quarter, leaving up 17-14.

That lead would quickly slip away in the second. Waterloo hit an early three to tie the game at 17 and dominated the scoring in the rest of the quarter. Outscoring Brock 18-9, Waterloo emerged leading by nine in a 35-26 first half.

In the second half, Waterloo picked up right where they left off. With two threes and two free throws, the Warriors lead climbed to a 17-point margin. Waterloo continually built on their lead, not giving Brock a chance to get back into the game.

Down 24 going into the final quarter, the Badgers had their work cut out for them if they were to maintain their perfect record.

Needing a huge offensive boost in the fourth, the Badgers couldn’t get their shots to fall. While Waterloo piled on 17 more points, the Badgers could only muster 10, marking three straight quarters where they had scored 15 points or less. The result was a lopsided 78-47 loss to Waterloo.

The differences between the two sides manifested themselves in the defence and hustle stats. Though initially starting out even after the first, Waterloo would go on to dominate Brock 36-20 points in the paint. Waterloo expertly capitalized on their defensive pressure in a way that Brock had no answer for, leading the Badgers 27-10 in points resulting from turnovers. Perhaps the most glaring difference was second chance points, where the Badgers thoroughly dismantled, getting decimated 17-0 in that regard.

There were some bright spots in Brock’s losing effort. Guard Madalyn Weinert continued to lead the team with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal, even if her 4-11 shooting was not as efficient as she would like.

Noor Bazzi (10 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal) and Allison Addy (eight points, two rebounds and one steal) rounded out the secondary scoring for the Badgers.

Unfortunately, the Badger’s luck did not change much in Saturday’s tilt against McMaster University.

McMaster dominated from the tip. While the Badgers couldn’t buy a basket, McMaster displayed surgical efficiency. Particularly proficient from distance, making eight of their 20 field goals from three (on 66.7 per cent three-point shooting), McMaster left the first with an eye-popping 30-9 lead. 

Though they followed this up with an impressive 19 point second quarter, the 20 point first-quarter deficit seemed insurmountable.  As much as they could claw back, the score would never get closer than nine in a game that was largely out of reach. 

The usual suspects continued to impress. Weinert again led the Badgers in points with 15 despite some poor shooting efficiency. Weinert added eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals for good measure.

Bazzi continued to round out the offence with nine points despite some especially poor shooting of her own, though in a game where the Badgers shot a combined 19-69, finding anyone with a strong field goal percentage could prove difficult. 

Now 4-2 after a rough weekend, Brock looks to get back on track next Friday in Toronto against York University. 

For the team’s full schedule and results, visit gobadgers.ca.