By Aaraksh Siwakoti
No good game goes unpunished.
A late injury to guard Claire Abbott left a dark cloud over the Thunder women’s basketball team’s 75-44 victory against the Seneca Sting.
Abbott left the game with a knee injury, but head coach John MacInnis is hoping that the injury won’t linger.
“She’s been a big part of our team, she’s started for us and given us a lot of steady work offensively and defensively,” he said. “It always sucks when someone goes down late in a blowout game, but that’s part of the game.”
He added that, although he didn’t think it was too severe, the team would be without their third-leading scorer for “a little while.”
Despite the late heartbreak, Algonquin had to be pleased with their effort. A 6-0 run by the home team, aided by lead scorer and guard Kim Cupid, set the tone early for the team.
A few questionable officiating calls played a part in the first half though, which saw the Thunder escape with only a 14-point lead.
“I just felt like it got a little inconsistent there,” said MacInnis. “It was fine. I think the girls played through it really well.”
Another bright spot for the team was their offensive rebounding. Algonquin didn’t give the defending Sting many chances to turn the tide of play, and the boards they picked up contributed in extending their time on offence.
It’s this type of underlying statistic that MacInnis loves to see.
“We have high standards for this group,” he said. “We push them to fight hard. Winning is nice, but it’s all about how we’re playing the game.”
With the win, Algonquin improved to 8-0 on the season. They are the only remaining undefeated team in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association.
And although that has to be a positive number for the team, MacInnis refuses to let his squad take their feet off the pedal.
“We have a lot of talent on this team and we can win a lot of games based on our talent,” he said. “We know that if we want to be a team that’s there at the end of the season we have to play better every day and every game.”