The No. 8 Brock Badgers women's rugby team kicked off their playoff campaign in emphatic fashion.

The commanding performance saw the Badgers defeat the Toronto Varsity Blues by a score of 76-12 in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarterfinal contest on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Alumni Field.

"I'm really happy with the entire performance across the board; all 25 players put their hands up and did a great job today," said head coach Adrian Brown. "It's nice to be top four in the OUA and we're pushing for a spot at nationals now. The big thing is to get the job done next week."

Reigning OUA Player of the Year, Paige DeNeve, led all scorers with 22 points from two tries and six successful conversions. 

Brock wasted no time setting the tone early through Mia Vandenhoek who scored three minutes into the contest. 

The Badgers offensive output only increased from there as DeNeve and Jordan Smith each notched two tries. Brooke Rempel and Mya Rickerby added tries of their own which saw Brock holding a strong 45-0 lead at the halftime break. 

Tries from Laura Brown, Mackenzie Lapierre and Jenna Rutherford extended the Badgers lead deep into the second half. 

The Varsity Blues were able to get two scores and one successful conversion back but any attempts of a comeback were thwarted by Abigail Thomson's first career OUA try and a late tally from Rempel for her second of the day. 

First-year fly half Renee Engel notched four points in the contest from two successful conversions. 

Up next, the Badgers will travel to Guelph to take on the Gryphons on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. in the OUA semifinals. This contest will be a rematch of the 2023 OUA semifinals, which saw the Gryphons be victorious by a score of 50-0 on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.