On Thursday, October 12, the UTM women’s varsity basketball team played their final exhibition game against the George Brown Huskies before their league opener on Saturday, October 21.
From the start of the game, George Brown came out strong and hungry for a win. They got the first basket of the game 10 seconds into the quarter. UTM had a slow start and fell behind by eight points within the first minute of play. The quarter ended 22-15 for George Brown.
In the second quarter, UTM’s frustration was evident. The ladies were scoring some baskets but it wasn’t enough to catch up to the Huskies. The women had chances but were missing a lot of layup opportunities. George Brown was sinking a lot of 3-point shots which put them ahead by 20 points at the end of the first half, leaving the score at 32-52.
UTM struggled mostly during the third quarter than in any other quarter of the game. George Brown started off very strong and dominated the quarter. They continued to sink their shots, forcing the goal differential to increase by 28 points and then to 30 points. George Brown’s Tianna Sullivan stood out as one of the strongest and best players on the court. She created many opportunities for her teammates while also scoring many points herself. With under two minutes to go in the third, UTM was down by 35 points. The third quarter ended 40-73.
In the final quarter of the game, the UTM women worked hard to catch up to George Brown. They began sinking baskets and playing much better than they did previously in the game. The crowd began cheering loudly and encouraging the women to show resilience against George Brown. Despite their hard-fought fourth quarter, George Brown took the game 58-89.
UTM has their first home game of the season on October 25 against the Niagara College Knights. This is the first year that the UTM women’s basketball team will be competing at the varsity level, so practice and training is key to having a successful season. They are a team filled with talent that just needs more experience playing at a higher level.
