The Badgers have moved on to the next round of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs.
In front of an energetic Brock crowd, the Badgers women's basketball team sent the fans home happy with an 81-72 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs in round 1 of the playoffs on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Bob Davis Gymnasium.
Three Badgers finished in double-digits, with Madalyn Weinert leading the way with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Olivia Fiorucci and Jamie Addy delivered 14 and 10, respectively, to help the Badgers' cause.
"We came in expecting a fight from Laurentian, and we kept our composure especially when it got close in the end," Fiorucci said. "I think it's going to help us moving forward to remember to stay composed in tight games like this."
Neither team could gain a significant advantage until the host Badgers started to hit multiple three-pointers, finishing the first quarter with a 44.4 three-point shooting percentage.
Jamie Addy's triple and subsequent successful free-throw gave the Badgers a seven-point advantage which they held after one quarter of play at 25-17.
A quick 7-0 run from the Badgers caused a Voyageurs' timeout as they looked to stop some of the momentum.
This did not stifle the Badgers' game plan as they continued to dominate from beyond the arc, going 7-for-13 en route to a 53-31 halftime scoreline in which they held the lead for fifteen minutes and 58 seconds of the total 20 minutes played.
"Our ball movement was opening us up a lot of shots, and we were hitting them in the first half," Fiorucci said. "We kept finding the open person, and we also knew to not just rely on our shots but to rely more on our defence rather than our offence."
To start the third quarter, the Voyageurs cut down the hosts' lead to 12 after a huge 13-3 run and an 85.7 field goal percentage.
Fiorucci hit a couple of well-timed three-pointers, including her fourth of the night which extended the Badgers' lead back to 17 at 63-46. As the horn sounded for the end of the third quarter, the advantage for the host side was at 16 with a scoreline of 68-52.
Like the previous frame, the visiting Voyageurs continued to chip away at the lead, bringing the score down to as close as three late in the contest.
A clutch three-pointer from Weinert with just 30 seconds left and subsequent successful free-throws on the next possession helped seal the 81-72 win for the Badgers and a spot in the next round.
As a team, the Badgers scored 14 three-pointers compared to just nine from the visitors.
This win also marks the first playoff victory for first-year head coach Shae Dheensaw.
Former assistant athletic director and Brock women's basketball head coach Chris Critelli was a special guest in attendance for the contest. With the Badgers, she won 393 career games, six divisional titles and a provincial championship.
Next, the Brock Badgers women's basketball team travel to Toronto to face the TMU Bold in an OUA quarterfinal matchup on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. You can stream the action on OUA.tv. Last season, the Bold eliminated the Badgers 74-65 in the OUA quarterfinal round at Bob Davis Gymnasium on Feb. 24, 2024.
