Senior guard Melissa Tatti scored a career-high 30 points to power the No. 9 Brock women's basketball team to a 81-64 victory over the No. 6 Queen's Golden Gaels at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Jan. 25.
Brock extends their win streak to three games and improves to 13-3; Queen's, who also lost to McMaster last night, drops to 9-7.
Tatti rained threes by going six-for-nine from beyond the arc in the first half as the Badgers led 44-36 at halftime.
"I didn't want to know how many I hit," said Tatti. "Some of the girls asked me at halftime how many I got and I didn't want to know. I just wanted to stay calm, cool and collected, because I hit those shots in the first half I knew they were going to guard me differently in the second."
The Golden Gaels limited her to eight points in the third and fourth quarters, and she didn't hit another three.
"Everyone had to pick it up a little bit," added Tatti. "I was going to screen, decoy, do what I can in other ways to help out. Sam Keltos had a big second half and finished with a big game. Jessica Morris and Jenneke Pilling came up with some big shots. Kristin Gallant with some boards and Sofia Croce is coming along well."
Brock led 67-56 after three and the Badgers never looked back.
Tatti recorded six assists and three steals while Keltos finished with 23 points and eight rebounds. Croce chipped in 11 points while Gallant secured 10 rebounds and Morris led all players with 11 boards.
"I thought we played hard and we finally got a first half together," said head coach Mike Rao. "We dictated the game a bit and we took it to them. They're a very good team, but I think the telling tale was our defensive work and dominating boards. It was hard fought and physical, but the refs let them play and it was good."
Brock outrebounded Queen's 51-38 and outshot them in field goals (35.9 per cent) and three points (36.4 per cent).
"Queen's is known for being a shooting team even though they're big and long, they do shoot a lot," said Tatti. "I think they started thinking 'we can't be trading threes for twos', but we were able to outnumber them."
Up next, the Badgers (13-3) host the a divisional opponent, the York Lions (10-6), during a Bell Let's Talk mental health awareness game at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available here.
