What initially had the makings of a runaway win for the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team turned into a heated battle that came down to the wire, and ended with a frustrating 57-55 win for the Bishop’s Gaiters at Concordia last Sunday.
The Stingers were hoping to ride a two game winning streak and to avenge a close loss to the Gaiters in their previous meeting, and for the first ten minutes of the game, it looked as though they would do just that.
The team was on the right track early on as tight defence, aggressive drives to the basket, and a hot hand by guard and co-captain Marie-Pier Veilleux led to a 16-5 advantage in the opening moments of the game. Indeed, the Stingers’ aggressive attitude and determination paid off as they got to the free throw line more than twice as many times as their opponents in the first half. Feeling right at home at the line, Concordia was nearly perfect, netting 8 of 9 free throws.
Things began to disintegrate, however, as the Gaiters clawed their way back to even things out at 22 points apiece with five minutes left in the first half, thanks to a defensive press, a streak of hot perimetre shooting, and an overall increased aggressiveness in the paint.
The Stingers once again piled up the frequent flyer miles in the second half by greatly outnumbering their opponents in trips to the free throw line. However, the points failed to pile up this time, as the ball often danced around the rim, kissed the glass, but rarely fell into the net.
Regardless, the Stingers and the Gaiters remained tied or within two points of each other throughout most of the final 20 minutes of play, as both teams struggled offensively and turned the ball over on several occasions.
Trailing by two points, Concordia regained possession of the ball with under 15 seconds left in the game, and a jump shot by guard Pascale Morin barely missed, bouncing off the rim and eventually being knocked out of bounds by Bishop’s, giving Concordia one last shot at the tie or the win. With five seconds left on the clock, Concordia once again failed to bring it to overtime when Morin fell to the ground with the ball as time expired, on a play that had many in the Concordia section of the crowd crying “foul.” No foul was called, but the Stingers knew it was a case of letting the lead slip away.
“It was a very frustrating game,” centre Kristine Steinfort stated. “We should have never let them back in after leading in the first. I don’t know what happened.”
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