The Brock Badgers defeated the Western Mustangs 68-65 in a women’s basketball clash on Nov. 15 in the Bob Davis Gymnasium.
The Badgers welcomed the Mustangs to St. Catharines in a must-win contest for both teams. The two squads sat in the middle of the standings in their respective divisions: Brock at 3-3, Western at 4-3. With limited games before the December break, it was almost necessary for these teams to win their remaining games if they wanted to feel comfortable heading into playoff season.
From the opening tip, it was clear that both teams were evenly matched. Western was letting the three-ball fly with no hesitation, forcing Brock to have sharp discipline on their closeouts. The Badgers were living in the paint during the first frame, fittingly started by a Madalyn Weinert layup that gave the home team an early lead. Back and forth they went — whenever Brock would score, the Mustangs seemed to have an answer. Despite making four more threes than the Badgers in the opening quarter, Western found themselves behind 19-17 as the frame came to an end. Weinert had a standout first 12 minutes, feasting inside off her own creation and passes from her teammates. As for the Mustangs, Sydney Cowan knocked down two shots from the land beyond, keeping her team within striking distance.
It took until the 8:44 mark of the second quarter for the Badgers to knock down their first three-pointer of the game as Audrey Ntetani found herself open in the corner for the make. This shot seemingly lit a fire under Ntetani’s teammate, Jamie Addy, who would nail back-to-back threes just a minute later. Slowly, the Badgers were creeping away with a lead as their defence turned things up a notch, keeping the Western three-point shooters at bay. One Ava Stranges three-pointer later, and Brock was heading into halftime with a 37-30 lead. Everyone on the Badgers chipped in that second frame, as Weinert sat for a large portion of the quarter. Six out of the eight Badgers who played that second frame scored a field goal, demonstrating why their depth scoring is going to be so important moving forward.
In the third quarter, the Mustangs completely flipped the script, dropping 22 points while only conceding 11. It started with a hustle possession by Reene Armstrong, cleaning up her own miss inside, laying it back in. A three-pointer by Shailah Adams would be it for the Badgers until the 6:59 mark, when they would finally score again. It was Brock’s offensive inconsistency that held them back in the third, playing a bit antsy out of halftime.
For the Mustangs, Armstrong had her best quarter of the game. The former Guelph Gryphon star player had no problem getting to her spots inside, punishing the Badger defence with her nifty finishes.
By the quarter’s end, the Mustangs had climbed back to take a four-point lead heading into the final frame.
Although the game was close, nobody expected what would transpire by the end of it. The quarter started with two Badger buckets from Mikayla Williams and Weinert, who tied the game up just under two minutes in. More back-and-forth sequencing followed as the Bob Davis Gymnasium crowd was getting more anxious by the second. Just when it looked like the scoring battle would continue, a stalemate ensued with neither team scoring for two minutes.
Now, with just over a minute and a half remaining, the Mustangs would have their own miniature back-and-forth with Weinert, who answered two scores with four clutch free throws of her own to keep the score notted.
After the second set of free throws was good, with just 22 seconds remaining, the Mustangs had one last possession to try and steal a victory in St. Catharines. The Badgers had other plans, however, as they would force a turnover in the half-court, giving them the ball with eleven seconds left.
On a sideline inbound, Stranges had the ball, looking for a teammate to get it in to. With nobody open in front of her, Stranges looked to her right, finding a wide-open Adams in the corner. With all the time in the world, Adams let go of a deep ball that fell to give the Badgers a three-point lead. The Bob Davis crowd was going ballistic, but amidst the chaos, there was still time left for Western to score. This was until Adams, who had just hit the shot, came out of nowhere to steal the ball off the inbound and dribble it out to secure the win at home. Mauled by her teammates, Adams became the hero for the night, sending Western home and giving Brock a much-needed victory.
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Brock moves to 4-3 on the season, jumping over 500., putting them third in the OUA Central Division. The Mustangs dropped to 4-4, staying put as the third seed in the OUA West. The standout of the game for Brock was Weinert, who finished with a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double, while shooting an efficient 8-13 from the field and 6-6 from the charity stripe.