The Algonquin Thunder women’s basketball team won their game Saturday against Centennial College with a final score of 88-68.
It was the 11th win for the Thunder as they are undefeated in the season with the thought of the OCAA championships on the horizon.
Although the women played with skill and strategy, Michelle Branker, a guard for the women’s basketball team would argue there is still much work to be done.
“I think we have to keep pushing strong especially knowing we’re going to be crossing over into the west division soon,” said Branker. “The teams in the west, they’re a tougher matchup so we need to focus on that and keep pushing ourselves in practice and competing really hard against each other.”
The women took on an 18 point lead over the Colts, going into halftime with a score of 49-31. The Colts began to close the gap in the third to an eight-point lead for the Thunder, but couldn’t maintain the momentum.
Branker took the opportunity to learn from this game and figure out what needed to be worked on amongst the team.
“After this game, I think we need to work on our press break for sure because that killed us a lot that game,” she said. “Little things like that with turnovers and such.”
The intensity during the game was high, as the Colts fought to turn over the ball on the court.
Meaghan McNamara, guard/forward explained what this win meant for the team and that it’s not the win itself but what leads up to it.
“Going into it we kind of already knew what the outcome would be but it’s not just about the win anymore, it’s about how you win,” she said. “So it’s about better wins, you know?”
McNamara and her team had learned these values from Jamie McClean, the head coach.
“It’s never just about squeaking by, it is about doing all of the little things,” said McNamara.
Despite the Thunder’s victory, the team seemed to be struggling more than usual on the court. A fourth-year member of the team, Rita Sibo, doesn’t believe they had the right focus and communication during the game.
“I think we struggled as a team today, we didn’t execute as well as we wanted to,” said Sibo. “We kind of let little things get to our heads and we could have done much better.”
The next time we see the Algonquin Thunder play will be on Jan. 31, against the Huskies at George Brown College.