Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Trying to contain reigning Canada West first all-star team member Deanna Tuchscheurer was made even tougher with MacEwan's captain and top post player Shannon Majeau in early foul trouble.
It amounted to a committee attempting to put the brakes on one of Canada West's top bigs, which was too tall of a task in the end as the visiting UFV Cascades in the Griffins' women's basketball home opener.
Tuchscheurer led the way with 23 points for the Cascades, who broke open a tight game in the fourth quarter with strong defence and a relentless inside attack.
"She's dangerous in so many ways," said MacEwan head coach Katherine Adams. "She can score in a lot of ways, but she also just contributes to their offensive attack more than just through scoring. She's a tough matchup.
"We threw some different people at her, but great players in this league perform. Hopefully we can watch film and take some lessons and be better tomorrow."
With the result, the Cascades move to 1-0 on the young season, while the Griffins are 0-1. The teams will meet again on Saturday (2 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
Majeau, who stands 6-foot-1, fouled out of the game with 6:04 left to go and the Griffins trailing by just six. She played just 18 minutes in the contest, while top scorer Noelle Kilbreath, who finished with four fouls played just 24 minutes.
"I think we got into some foul trouble and it's tough when you're trying to manage a really big inside presence and you don't have them to go to," said Adams. "But that's not the story of the game. We were tough and we battled, and they outbattled us.
"At times when we needed to get a defensive stop, we just let up a little bit too early or didn't quite give enough or step in front of them early enough – whatever it was to try and get a stop that possession."
Kilbreath, even in limited minutes, led the Griffins with 14 points, while reigning Canada West third team all-star Mackenzie Farmer recorded a double double in the season opener with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Hayley Lalor added seven points, seven boards and two blocks.
W��| Get that outta here!
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) November 5, 2022
Hayley Lalor working on D for @MacEwanU, who trail @UFVCascades 56-47 after three quarters of @CanadaWest action.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/7S9JgQSsW8
Toni Gordon had nine points to pace a strong rookie effort off the bench for the Griffins.
"It really was a collective team effort," said Adams. "With Shannon and Noelle getting into some early foul trouble, it really required some other people to step up and fill some different roles and gain some experience in some different ways that they maybe haven't had to so far.
"I think that's great. It showcased that we did have a lot of different people score and find different ways to contribute."
Besides Tuchscheurer, UFV got a monster double double from captain Natalie Rathler (16 points and 13 rebounds) and 15 points from reigning Canada West third team all-star Maddy Gobeil.
"I thought it was a really, really great learning experience for our girls," said Adams. "We have some young kids playing some big minutes and I thought to be in a game with that calibre of team and keep it close and compete with the physicality is really great and we're looking forward to another shot at them tomorrow."
