Briercrest's winning streak snapped by visiting SAIT Trojans
Posted: January 15, 2016
It was a close game most of the way, but Briercrest's women's basketball team ended up dropping their first match of the second semester to the visiting SAIT Trojans.
The score throughout the first half was exceptionally tight, as the teams were within one shot of each other for all but a few moments. SAIT brought a high pressure defense that limited Briercrest's chances and put the onus on quick decision-making with the ball. Some good examples of this came from Charity Mbugua with a good steal and Victoria Voth with a key rebound.
Early on, Amy Wanvig led offensively for the home team. After SAIT played the first quarter with a consistent one or two point lead, Wanvig tied things up 17-17 at the beginning of the second. A textbook 3-pointer by Lauren Jordan put Briercrest up 20-17, and the visiting coach called timeout to calm his team down. The guests responded after that and carried the play for the next few minutes as they built up a 27-22 lead.
Down by a handful for the first time in the game, Briercrest showed mental strength and remained upbeat. Sara Kurath had a huge block and it brought a hearty cheer from the bench as well as the crowd. With only five seconds remaining in the half, Kristin Grasmeyer sunk a clutch shot from beyond the line to close the gap to 27-25 as halftime arrived.
Briercrest had the start they wanted in the second half as Jordan drained another three to put the Clippers up 28-27. The momentum was short-lived, however, as SAIT made some good shots and dashed out to a 40-30 lead. Briercrest showed composure as they continued to work hard and chip away on the scoreboard, and a basket by Kurath closed the gap to 48-40 for the visitors. Briercrest matched SAIT point for point until early in the fourth quarter when an 8-1 run for SAIT made things 59-44. Good shots by Mbugua and Emilie Peters were countered by an efficient SAIT attack, and the final buzzer sounded at 73-55 for the visitors.
As always with our student-athletes, there is much to be proud of. Great sportsmanship was exhibited by Briercrest, the team played hard from start to finish, and they reached out to the guests at centre court afterwards as they prayed together arm-in-arm.
Players of the game were Amy Wanvig for Briercrest with a team-leading 17 points, and Martina Allen for SAIT. Catch the rematch tomorrow at 1:00pm.
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