The York University Lions women's basketball team won its first game of 2020 in thrilling fashion, picking up a 66-63 upset victory over the No. 8 nationally ranked Brock Badgers on Wednesday night at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The loss was just the second of the season for the Badgers, dropping them to 9-2 on the year, while the Lions improved to 7-6 with the triumph.
The game started off electric with a huge turnout. Both teams were neck and neck in the first.
Lauren Golding broke the tie to help the Lions gain the lead. The pressure didn't stop there as the Lions forced numerous turnovers. With the help of
Megan MacLeod, the Lions continued to edge away with the lead.
Golding had a stellar game with a solid steal and crossed the Badgers defence to give a fantastic assist to her teammate
Jada Codrington. Soon after, however, the Lions defence started to falter as the Badgers quickly gained the lead in the final minutes of the first quarter. But thanks to Golding's hustle, she was able to pick up a basket and gave the Lions the lead again. In the final seconds of the quarter the Badgers picked up a tying basket ending the first 16-16.
In the second quarter, the Badgers came out intense as they took the lead early at 20-16. The Lions continued to score baskets of their own to stay in the game but were still trailing until the final five minutes of the half when they took the lead by a single point. The Badgers came in to attempt a basket, but Golding came in with a stable block.
The Lions had a solid rebound game as they snuffed out every opportunity for the Badgers. Pickering native
Cyanna King scored an amazing basket to give the Lions the lead for the first time in the quarter, but the Badgers came back in the final seconds of the half to lead 27-26.
The second half started as electric as the first. In the third, both teams came out hard and Saint John, N.B., native
Megan Stewart drew a foul and capitalized off of it; followed by another basket once again from Golding.
Katrina Collins-Samuels had a stellar game to help the Lions gain the lead. With time winding down in the quarter, the Badgers came back with a basket from Melissa Tatti which sealed the edge over the Lions to end the third quarter 49-45.
The Lions came out and played the final quarter fiercely and had a fantastic comeback. Golding came out strong and scored a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one. Later on, Collins-Samuels had a fantastic steal that ignited her team and with under five minutes to go in the game, the Lions finally had a healthy lead over the Badgers that they held to the end.
Golding scored a whopping 25 points in the game and added 14 rebounds for an impressive double-double, followed by McLeod with 14 points and King with 10.
The Lions look to add another game to their win streak as they host the McMaster Marauders this Saturday at 8pm.
