The Briercrest women’s basketball team proved that lightening clearly doesn’t strike twice as they kept St. Mary’s grounded two games straight, winning 67-44.

A low-scoring first quarter made for a slow start to the game, the score held at 2-2 for half of the quarter, both teams’ shots not dropping in. After Briercrest’s time out, Coach Romanuk changed up the line, sparking momentum for the Clippers. Threes by Meghan Friesen and Brooke Briscoe also led to Briercrest surging ahead in points, ending the quarter 14-8.

Briercrest opened the second quarter with a fast-paced passing game, with which Amy Wanvig was able to put the first points up, 16-8. St. Mary’s replied, nearly catching Briercrest 16-15. Claire Richardson demonstrated solid aggression at the boards and Briercrest continued to forge ahead. From this point, Briercrest was a force to be reckoned with, running away with the score 32-17 to end the half.

St. Mary’s came back after half fiery and intense, dominating the third quarter. Wide open, Friesen drained another three, Briercrest’s only score during play for the entire third quarter 35-22. Briscoe and Claire Richardson each scored off free throws, Briercrest up 37-27 going into the final quarter.

Briercrest looked like a different team in the fourth quarter,

Nicole Meyer had two consecutive drives into the net as did Tracy Frimpong. Meyer was unstoppable, draining three threes in a row, her sister Friesen immediately following suit with a three of her own! The momentum only grew and Briercrest took the game 67-44.

Players of the game were St. Mary’s Bernadette Catolos with six rebounds, one assist and one steal and Briercrest’s Claire Richardson with a high 12 rebounds, three assists, high four blocks and two steals.

Briercrest dominated with a 44.4% (8-18) three-point record compared to St. Mary’s 0.0%. Briercrest had 44 rebounds while St. Mary’s had 39. Briercrest got 19 steals while St. Mary’s had 14. Turnovers and blocks were nearly equal between the teams.

Nicole Meyer had the game high assists, and Amy Wanvig and Friesen shared the team high four steals.

Briercrest’s first game of the New Year is at home, January 10, against Concordia University College, at 6:00pm.