Cougars fight hard, drop both against Knights

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs NIAGARA KNIGHTS

WELLAND, ON – The Cougars went into Niagara looking to snag a win from the 1-13 Knights in game one of their weekend series in Welland. The first quarter started with the Knights jumping out to a 14-3 lead looking to assert themselves in the early going. The Cougars would fight back to a 14-9 score thanks to a couple made shots by Clara Yanchuk and some rebounding by Taylor Elliott.

Both offenses seemed to find their groove in the second, as Skylar Toms scored a majority of the Sault's points in the frame with 8, and Jayme Meser contributed a couple assists while moving the ball around to kick start the offence. The Cougars would shoot 3 of 5 from three points range in the frame and shoot 5 of 11 in field goals as they closed out an efficient quarter trailing the Knights 33-22

The third quarter was even closer than the previous two as both teams would lock down defensively and hold on to the ball. Quality shots were hard to come by for both teams, but Toms would break through with 4 points, along with Emma Filion's 4 points coming off the bench. Taylor Elliott would continue to take care of the rebounding and Clara Yanchuk would also hit her third 3 point shot of the game to keep the Cougars within striking distance going into the fourth quarter, eyeing their first win of the season.

While the Cougars played a solid game the first three quarters, they ran out of steam in the fourth. Taylor Elliott continued her strong game with 4 points in the final quarter along with Andrea Gorman also contributing 4, but Niagara would pour in 22 points in the final frame to outpace the Cougars in the end 67-41.

Cougar Scoring: Skylar Toms (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block), Clara Yanchuk (11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), Taylor Elliott (8 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block).

GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs NIAGARA KNIGHTS

WELLAND, ON – The Cougars looked to keep pace with the Knights after Niagara pulled away in the fourth quarter on Saturday. The Cougars got an early albeit small lead to start the game with a couple quality shots by Jayme Meser and Clara Yanchuk. However, the Knights would respond going on a 16 point run including three 3's to take a 16-5 lead.  Before the end of the quarter thanks to a couple baskets by Emma Filion the Cougars would find themselves down 20-11 going into the second.

Niagara continued to score in the second going up 33-15 powered by Elisabeth deBoer's 8 points in the quarter. The Cougars would respond with continued strong play by Yanchuk, Filion and Taylor Elliott. Elliott added 4 points and 2 rebounds on extremely effective two minutes of playing time in the quarter. The Cougars did their best to keep the Niagara offence at bay but at the end of the half they would be down 40-23.

The Cougars offence came out hot in the third quarter going bucket for bucket with the Knights. Skylar Toms and Andrea Gorman showed up big time in the third frame scoring 7 and 5 points respectively while added a combined 7 rebounds. At the end of the quarter the Knights would still hold a 61-42 lead.

Both teams in the fourth quarter lost some steam as the offence on each side sputtered. Elliott was able to pull in 7 rebounds in the frame while Filion added 4 points, but in the end it wasn't enough to catch Niagara as the Knight pulled out the victory over the Cougars 75-50.

Cougars Scoring: Emma Filion (12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks), Clara Yanchuk (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Taylor Elliott (8 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks), Andrea Gorman (8 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists).