The Sheridan Bruins paid UTM a visit for a varsity women’s basketball game, this past Saturday, November 10 at the RAWC’s Gym A/B. The Eagles have had four wins and one loss so far in the season. Unfortunately, this week they suffered another fatal blow by the Sheridan Bruins in a lively match, making their record 4-2-0. With UTM’s first time playing Sheridan this season, the Bruins revealed exactly what they’re made of and it was an impressive showing.
In short, their players radiated skill and experience. Most of the team exhibited a remarkable level of control and speed with the ball. Even more striking was the team communication. Each shift of 5 moved as one with a distinct rapport visible in their passes. Whereas each Eagle mostly stuck to proximal and short passes, the Bruins knew each other almost as well as they knew themselves. Another clear indicator of this was their sharp and efficient plays on court. Such a strength can only be explained by a profusion of experience. It was enough to push the Eagles’ skill to their limits for the entirety of the game.
In the first quarter, the Bruins maintained possession of the ball for the majority of the time, whereas the Eagles were acclimating to the speed of the game. As such, the Eagles could take the ball to the paint but struggled getting a clear targeted shot at the basket. The first shot of the game was a free throw made by Sheridan’s, Theresa Brown. In fact, the Eagles were on a roll for half the quarter, peaking at 11-1, until the Bruins sped right back up, to tip the scales and finishing ahead in the quarter with a 3-pointer at 20-13.
The second quarter started off with UTM’s Priyanka Mehla, making a stunning fake on two players to get a layup. This quarter was also defined by defensive development. The Eagles attempted to maintain a staunch man-to-man defence and break up the Bruins’ teamwork. Pinar Armagan scored a layup and few-throw, whereas Jade Addai, Mehla and Victoria Silva scored two points each, with Silva’s 3 being the last point of the quarter for UTM. However, Sheridan demonstrated tremendous gusto with a steady increase in aggressive defence and offence to widen the gap in the score and finish ahead yet again at 38-23.
For the third quarter Addai, Silva and Armagan managed to get all 12 points for UTM. The Eagles kept possession of the ball for most of the time but their game was marked by sloppiness, with a lack of follow through for each shot. The Bruins were slowed way down this quarter and only after a timeout halfway in for a pep-talk, did they start to catch up and finish strong at 55-35.
The last quarter was almost palpable with both sides releasing all restraints to give it their all and drive the points as high as they can. The Bruins were losing their tight grip on defence and a much larger ratio of the Eagles’ shots was going in. For this quarter, Addai delivered an impressive performance, scoring more than half the team’s points. The game ended here with the Bruins seizing the day at 73-52. As a whole, Addai scored a whopping 19 points, Armagan scored 13, Silva 11 and Jiana Alnajjar and Mehla scoring 4 and 5 respectively. The Eagles are making a trip to Conestoga College for another match against the Condors, scheduled next week on November 8. They’ve won their first four league games and this will be yet another opportunity for them to regain a winning streak.
