Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Inconsistency is a word that aptly sums up the fate of the MacEwan Griffins women's basketball team on Saturday.
A night after upsetting U SPORTS No. 4 Alberta 85-74, the tables turned dramatically in a tough 73-42 loss.
Their field goal percentage plummeted from 48.3 per cent to 27.1. Their three-point percentage took a dive from 52.2 to 19.0.
"I think that's a big piece of it," said MacEwan head coach Katherine Adams. "Yesterday, we moved the ball well, found each other well and today we just didn't do either of those things quite so well.
"We didn't create the open shots we did yesterday and when we did have opportunities, we just didn't knock them down at the same rate as yesterday."
Mackenzie Farmer led the Griffins with 17 points, but they didn't get much from anyone else – a far cry from Friday's effort, which saw four MacEwan players hit double digits.
"I think the types of shots we were taking today were different," said Adams. "Alberta did a good job just making adjustments and taking us out of rhythm and making those a lot harder on us. Also, we just had some fatigue with big minutes in our legs."
The Griffins were still playing short-handed due to injuries and played with just nine players with four seeing 30-plus minutes, led by Farmer's marathon 36.
"She was solid and steady for us yesterday," said Adams of Farmer. "I certainly thought she could give us more and she was more assertive today in attacking the rim and creating some opportunities for herself, which is good to see."
Claire Signatovich led Alberta with 14 points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double double on back-to-back nights, while Neve Murray chipped in 11 for the Pandas.
As the Griffins take stock in the weekend, a split is a solid result, no doubt, but the learning opportunity will be what they take most out of it. The next step is to beat good teams twice in a row.
"To come out with a performance we're really proud of (we have to know) teams are going to fight back," said Adams. "They're not just going to roll over and say 'oh well, they beat us, we'll prepare the same do the same as yesterday.'
"That's part of our learning right now, being able to make adjustments and come out back-to-back nights and put together two performances we're really proud of.
"Certainly, there's bits and pieces we can really look at and say where we achieved what we wanted to, but the consistency across the board is something that we know is an area of growth for us moving forward."
The Griffins next return home, closing out the regular season by hosting Mount Royal University on Feb. 18-19.