Women’s basketball: Wolves take down Colts in comeback victory
The Wolves women’s basketball team earned a hard-fought win on Halloween against the Centennial Colts at the Jack Doyle Athletics and Recreation Centre.
The Wolves came out stagnant in the first half as they maintained a close game, however inconsistent shooting and lapses on defence led to the Colts holding onto the lead early.
The Wolves found themselves in foul trouble throughout the second quarter that kept the team from establishing a steady rhythm to their offence.
“I think a lot of the calls in the first half were stopping our momentum but once we just focused on what we have to do, we got to move on,” said Wolves guard Prissy Chuoi.
Entering halftime, Wolves head coach Jaime McLean pushed his players for more intensity on both ends of the court.
“I think it was just the understanding that, like, our intensity wasn’t where we needed it the whole game,” said McLean. “And finally in the fourth quarter, the girls stepped up, stepped in, started to do what we wanted to do.”
The Wolves were down by as many as 14 points as they entered the fourth quarter with a noticeable shift in their intensity on both ends. The team began to make stops on defence and get out in transition on offence as guard Chuoi led the way for the Wolves, contributing 23 points on the night.
The late rally from Algonquin stunned the Colts as their late-game shift in intensity ultimately resulted in a nail-biting 66-65 win that left McLean feeling hopeful of what could be.
“It was kind of one of those moments of like, if we did this all game, we could prove a point with the score rather than it be tight,” said McLean.
The Wolves’ fourth-quarter resurgence saw the team overcome adversity, with forward Daniella Dibula crediting the team’s ability to execute in the clutch to the trust she and her teammates have in one another.
“I can definitely rely also on my teammates to match my energy and that they feed my energy and I give it back to them too,” said Dibula.
The win marked the Wolves’ third of the season as the team prepares for its next matchup at Seneca on Nov. 6.
