Cougars Split Series Against Top Ranked Michigan Dearborn
GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs REDEEMER ROYALS
ANCASTER, ON – The Cougars were looking for their first win of the season Friday against the (0-8) Redeemer Royals. Redeemer would start off hot hitting four 3-pointers in the frame for the quick lead. The Cougars would keep it close in the opening quarter thanks to Emma Filion's 8 points and 5 rebounds keeping the ball out of the Royals hands. The Royals Jessica Angelini would score 11 of her game high 32 points in the 1st to keep the Redeemer in front. Filion's 8 points and a Clara Yanchuk 3 pointer had the 1st quarter score at 22-13 in favour of the Royals.
The Cougars would get within 6 points in the 2nd quarter before the Royals hit back to back 3's to extend their lead. From there both defenses would elevate their play with a stretch of over 2 minutes where no points were scored by either team. Unfortunately for the Cougars at the end of the half the Royals still had the lead at 43-23.
The Cougars would hit a couple 3's in the 3rd quarter from Yanchuk and Taylor Elliott but the Royals scored 31 points in the frame by six different players that extended their lead to 74-31. Redeemer would continue their solid play scoring 21 points in the 4th to win the first game of the weekend, and their first of the season.
Cougars Scoring: Emma Filion (12 points, 13 rebounds, 1 block), Clara Yanchuk (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Skylar Toms (9 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists)
GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs REDEEMER ROYALS
ANCASTER, ON – The Cougars watched the Royals celebrate their first win of the season Friday night, and looked to flip the script Saturday as they looked for their first win of the season in game 2 of the weekend series. The Royals, clearly riding a high from their win the night before ran an incredibly efficient offence shooting 63.2% from the field to the Cougars 31.3% in the 1st.
The Redeemer offence would continue to produce in the 2nd, with three different players scoring 6 points. Clara Yanchuk poured in 8 points in the quarter to lead the Cougars offence while Skylar Toms would add a 3 pointer of her own and pulled down 5 defensive rebounds to try and keep the ball out of the Royals hands. The Cougars would find themselves down 50-25 going into the half.
The 3rd quarter was a tough one for the Cougars as Redeemer would pull down 18 rebounds to the Cougars 9 to stifle their offence. Game 1 stand out Jessica Angelini would score 9 points in the frame for the Royals to extended their lead going into the 4th.
The Cougars found their offence in the 4th outscoring the Royals 22-17. Jayme Meser scored 6 and added 3 assists while spreading out the offence. Emma Filion would score 7, Skylar Toms would score 5, and Clara Yanchuk would add 4 in the final frame of the contest. Despite outscoring the Royals in the 4th, the Cougars couldn't catch up to Redeemer as they took the game in the end, 90-56.
Cougars Scoring: Clara Yanchuk (17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal), Skylar Toms (16 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist), Emma Filion (14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists).