The UTM Lady Eagles women’s tri-campus basketball team lost their first home game of the season against downtown’s St. George Black on Wednesday night. The team has already played two away games, netting a win downtown against St. George Blue and a 73–48 exhibition loss against Redeemer College’s varsity team.
The game was set for 7:30 p.m., but started late because St. George Black only arrived at 7:25. The girls had to hop in taxis from downtown and rush to UTM after finding out while waiting for their bus that no one had booked one for them. They were given 15 minutes to warm up, and the tip-off was at 7:45.
The Eagles, suited up in their blue and white uniforms, were strong on offensive rebounds. They drew a number of fouls under the net and headed to the foul line eight times in the first half.
The crowd deemed Steffany Bakelaar MVP for her aggressiveness under the basket. She scored three foul shots for the Eagles and an “and 1”, which made the fans go wild. Meanwhile, St. George Black had a more aggressive defence, and capitalized on UTM’s turnovers. At halftime, although St. George Black had 10 fouls, they led the game 30–18.
Following the break, St. George returned to the game, maintaining their strong performance from the first half. UTM struggled on defence, allowing their opponents to score several easy layups. When it came to rebounding, UTM was pushed aside; St. George Black was able to score most of their points from offensive rebounds.
Both teams came out scrappier in the second half, both committing their fair share of fouls. UTM scored on four of nine foul shots, while St. George Black scored on five of eight. By the end of the game, St. George Black had 19 fouls and UTM had 16. The final score of the game was 59–36, giving St. George Black their league-leading second win.
“We rebounded well on the offensive side, but not defence. We were missing two of our starting post players,” said Jack Krist, UTM’s head coach. “The score doesn’t indicate the strength of that team compared to us. I think if we had our whole roster out and ran all our plays, we’d be all right.”
