Clippers defeat Rattlers in the Snake Pit

The 6-3 Briercrest Clippers Headed into Alberta and the Snake Pit to take on the 5-5 Medicine Hat College Rattlers. The teams both got off to a hot start scoring on each of their first two trips down the floor. From here the defensive play picked up and both sides went on a scoring drought until a free throw gave Briercrest a 1 point lead as the clock neared the midway point. With the drought broken, the Clippers were able to score on their next trip down the board, only to be once again matched by the Rattlers. The back and forth play continued and the Rattlers battled back to take a 10-9 lead with 3:09 left on the clock. With another single free throw the clippers tied it up at 10 in a very even first quarter. Another basket on each end saw the score climb to 12-12 and the clock read 1:00 left. Briercrest scored with 20 seconds on the clock and took a 14-12 lead into the break.

The second quarter started off with a Clippers miss followed with a Rattler miss on the other end. Neither team could find the basket early with the score remaining static. The first baskets came from a Rattler free throw, followed by a 3 point play from Clipper Angenay Williams. This seemed to open up the floodgates as both teams started to score slightly more efficiently. The Clippers lead 21-17 with 6 minutes left on the scoreboard. A Quick Rattlers basket narrowed the Clippers lead to 2. A Morgan Muir pull up jumper evened the score at 21 before a Rhiannon Ware 3 gave the home side their first lead of the quarter. Able to score on the other end, the Clippers remained within 1. A defensive stop and a quick layup saw the Clippers retake their lead briefly. The Rattlers applied full court pressure and forced a turnover deep in the Briercrest end. The Clippers were able to convert on some tough baskets late and were able to take a small lead heading into the half, 34-32.

The Teams came out of the break with fire in their eyes. Both teams came down the court to score on their first possession of the half. Briercrest came up with another 2 and stopped the Rattlers to extend their lead to 4. The Rattlers answered with a defensive stop on the one end and 2 points of their own. The back and forth game continued to be evenly matched until the Clippers started to pull away. With the Rattlers struggling to score, Briercrest went on a run and opened up a 44-36 lead. Morgan Muir broke the Rattlers drought, raining down on another pull-up jumper. The Clippers went back down and were able to score again to maintain their lead. Williams was the Clippers best player on the court, involved in almost every Briercrest scoring play. The Rattlers Defense was having a hard time stopping the Clippers with the ball in her hand. Briercrest was able to maintain their lead heading into the late stages of the quarter. With 2:27 on the Clock Briercrest lead 52-46 with the intensity of the game ramping up.  The teams continued to battle to the last second of the quarter and at the buzzer the Clippers remained in the lead, up 57-50.

The Fourth quarter started with the Clippers Williams hitting a deep 3 following a Rattlers layup. This extended the lead to 4 in a game where neither team was giving up anything on defense. The Clippers were able to extend their lead to 10 on the back of Williams who was involved in almost every offensive play in some way. With the score 56-66, the Rattlers were able to muscle out a tough basked that forced Briercrest to take a timeout. Briercrest were able to hit a 3 coming out of break from Williams. After yet another Williams 3, the Clippers re-established the 10 point advantage up 72-62 forcing the Rattlers to take a timeout. with less than 5 minutes on the clock there was not a lot of time for the Rattlers to chip away, they would need points quickly to close down the lead. Briercrest's Williams continued to be able to find a way to score or help her teammates score keeping the Rattlers at bay. With the Rattlers down and taking lots of deep 3 pointers, Briercrest was able to extend their lead'. up 82-66 the Clippers coasted and took a 85-68 win

The ACAC Players of the Game were Williams from Briercrest and Rozdeba from MHC