The GBU: Women’s basketball Gaels gutted by Gee-Gees

Breaking down Ottawa’s win over Queen’s Friday night… [Michael Grobe, gogaelsgo.com]

The score: Ottawa 71, Queen’s 50

How I saw it: In person

The Good:

-Alaina Porter: Porter was Queen’s best player on the night. She went four for eight from the field and seven for 11 from the charity stripe for a 15-point total while adding eight rebounds, four of them offensive. She played well in the post against taller defenders and was consistent all night, a main reason why she recorded a game-high 32 minutes of court time.

-Erin Skippon: Skippon also had a decent game for the Gaels, making three of her seven shots from the field and four of her six chances from the line for 10 points. She also added three rebounds.

-Jill Wheat: Wheat didn’t provide much offence, only notching three points on free throws, but she collected a game-high 10 rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass. She also only picked up two fouls in 26 minutes of court time, quite good for a post player.

-The free-throw battle: Queen’s outperformed Ottawa from the line, notching 25 of their 34 shots for a 73.5 shooting percentage. The Gee-Gees hit 11 of their 18 foul shots for a 61.1 percentage.

The Bad:

-Courtney Berquist: Berquist lit the Gaels up for 15 points and six rebounds in only 28 minutes of court time. She was the most impressive player on the Gee-Gess, shooting six for nine from the field and making both of her three-point attempts.

-Kendra Walker-Roche: Walker-Roche only hit one of her 10 shots from the field and went zero-for-four from deep. She also committed three turnovers in only 16 minutes of play.

-Anne Murphy: Murphy’s normally the team’s key post presence, but she didn’t have a good game. She went one-for-five from the field, but hit all four of her foul shots, giving her six points in 16 minutes of play. She also only collected two rebounds, well below her usual standard.

The Ugly:

-The Gaels’ shooting percentage: Queen’s only made 12 of their 48 field-goal attempts on the day, an abysmal 25 per cent success rate. That’s one of the worst showings I’ve ever seen. Some of it was due to poor shot selection, much of which came from the Gaels’ inability to get anything going on offence. Most of their offensive plays consisted of passing the ball around the perimeter for most of the shot clock and then frantically launching a contested long bomb as the clock ticked down, not the best strategy if you’re trying to win.

-The Gaels’ three-point percentage: Those long bombs made things even worse. The Gaels only hit one of their ten three-point attempts all game for an atrocious 10 per cent success rate. Normally this team’s pretty good from outside, but Ottawa did an excellent job of shutting down the interior passing lanes and then jumping out to challenge Queen’s shooters: there weren’t a lot of open looks, and the ones the Gaels did get didn’t go in.

-Brittany Moore’s play: The Gaels’ offence lives and dies with Brittany Moore these days thanks to the departure of former scoring threats Sarah Barnes and Teddi Firmi and the season-ending injury to Jess Selinger. Friday, it died with her. Moore was the OUA-leading scorer heading into Friday night, and the Gee-Gees apparently did their research: they never let her get a really good look, and she wound up going one-for-seven from the floor (including a zero-for-three performance from deep). Moore did hit all of her three free throws and added two rebounds, but she also racked up four fouls and three turnovers en route to a season-low five-point performance. They’ll need more out of her if they hope to win against Carleton.

I'll have a story on this game and tonight's match against the Carleton Ravens in Tuesday's Journal.