Trailing at halftime, Briercrest rallies to defeat Concordia 74-63
The Briercrest College Clippers rebounded from a sluggish start to knock off the North's top seed, the Concordia University Thunder, 74-63 in their opening game of the ACAC Women's Basketball Championships.
In a contest that was a tale of two halves, the Clippers trailed 39-34 at halftime before stepping up their defensive play in the second half.
The difference in the second half was "just the defensive intensity," said Briercrest head coach Anthony Skepple, named Wednesday night as South Coach of the Year. "We were a little sluggish coming out. It's a big thing, playoffs. The defensive intensity picked up in the second half and the team came along with it.
The Clippers finished 13-8 in the South, then earned a berth in the championships with a play-in victory over Olds College on Feb. 25. Skepple believes his team is peaking at the right time.
"We had a really good second semester and we're believing in each other now, which is really nice. If we believe in ourselves, who knows what will happen."
Skepple's counterpart with the Thunder, Robbie Valpreda, was this year's Coach of the Year winner in the North after Concordia posted a 16-4 regular-season mark.
Concordia ran to a quick 8-3 lead before Briercrest warmed up to close the gap to 11-9. At the end of the first quarter, the Thunder held a 17-12 edge. Concordia built the margin to 25-16 in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but the Clippers rallied again to knot the score at 25-25. A fast-paced final four minutes of the half saw several lead changes before the Thunder took a 39-34 lead to the dressing room at halftime.
Kaelyn Bryks, honoured Wednesday night as the ACAC North's Player of the Year, sparked the Thunder with 14 first-half points on six-for-seven shooting. Sydney Latrace led Briercrest with nine points in the opening half.
Concordia stretched the lead to 11 points, 45-34, in the opening minutes of the third quarter before the Clippers mounted a comeback, finally overtaking the Thunder 51-50 on a basket by Amber Fichtner. The third quarter ended with Briercrest ahead 53-50.
A driving layup by Fichtner with six minutes to play gave Briercrest a 59-53 edge, and a few minutes later, Madison Beattie hit a three-pointer to put the Clippers up 64-53. The Clippers pulled out to a 69-53 advantage with just over two minutes remaining, a lead that proved too much for Concordia to overcome.
Latrace was named Briercrest's Player of the Game after leading the team with 18 points. Fichtner was next with 17 points while grabbing nine rebounds.
Bryks finished with 21 points for the Thunder while Jaycee May netted nine points. Jenna Rinsky was chosen as Concordia's Player of the Game.
Players of the Game:
Clippers: #22 Sydney Latrace
Thunder: #2 Jenna Rinsky