Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – Somehow, it just got away from them.
The contest was a one-point game with just four minutes left, but the MacEwan Griffins women's basketball team was on the wrong end of a 69-57 result at the hands of the UNBC Timberwolves when the final buzzer sounded on Friday night.
"The end of the game, we fouled and sent them to the free throw line, so it was more than it would have been, if we hadn't fouled," said MacEwan head coach Katherine Adams. "We were just trying to get possessions back. They went on a run. I would say it started early in the fourth. We worked hard to generate some shots for us and then came back and gave up some easy shots the other way.
"We couldn't string together a series of stops to keep it close in the fourth. They hit shots and it slipped away."
The result was UNBC's first win of the season, as they improve to 1-2, while MacEwan drops its fifth-straight to open the season.
Toni Gordon led the Griffins with nine points and six rebounds, while Allie Spenrath, Makenzie Reeve and Samantha Hickey chipped in eight points each.
Rebecca Landry led the Timberwolves with 22 points, while Amrit Manak and Bella Mesquita each had 11.
Other than the finish and the beginning, when the Griffins had a slow start and fell behind 16-1, MacEwan had a fairly solid game. They ultimately just couldn't hit enough shots, going 36.8% on field goals, compared to 41.4% for UNBC.
"I would say it took the first half of the first quarter to get our feet under us and we closed the gap," said Adams. "We definitely came back and played some really good basketball and were doing some really good things."
Their biggest takeaway is "just the importance of making shots," said Adams.
"We did a good job at times of creating some easy shots for ourselves and we just didn't finish or we got ourselves to the free throw line and we just didn't convert," she said. "It certainly hurts.
"When you work hard to create an easy basket and you don't capitalize on it, and then they go down and score an easy one, it certainly shifts momentum. I think just recognizing those moments and being able to, in the flow of the game, recognize what's needed, and being able to adjust on the fly a little bit better is certainly something we can take away and improve on tomorrow."
The teams will meet again on Saturday (6 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
