Calgary (Dan Kinvig) – Women’s Basketball: Wesmen overcome Gobeil’s career-high scoring night, prevail 75-69 in CW quarters
A career-high scoring outburst from Maddy Gobeil wasn’t enough for the University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team on Sunday evening, as they dropped a 75-69 decision to the Winnipeg Wesmen in the Canada West quarter-finals in Calgary.
Gobeil poured in 31 points in a clash of nationally ranked teams – Winnipeg is No. 5 in the latest U SPORTS national poll while the Cascades are No. 8 – but it was the Wesmen fending off a furious fourth-quarter comeback to punch their ticket to the Canada West Final Four while eliminating UFV.
“I think the important thing is, our journey doesn’t end here,” Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer said afterward, reflecting on the result. “We’re still a work in progress, still a team that’s learning, and these are important games for us to go through. Obviously Winnipeg is an extremely veteran, talented team. They’re going to be difficult for anybody to come out on top against.
“They understand the game at a higher level than we do, and tonight they understood who to look to at certain times and how to exploit us. Those are things that come with experience. They’re also big and athletic, and it’s a challenge to keep them off the boards.”
Gobeil got off to a scorching start for the Cascades – she hit her first three attempts from beyond the arc and scored 16 points in the first quarter.
The Wesmen, meanwhile, were able to keep pace thanks to a dominant effort on the glass. They out-rebounded the Cascades 28-14 in the first half, and were able to fashion a 20-6 surge to close the second quarter with their trio of Canada West all-stars – Keylyn Filewich, Kyanna Giles and Faith Hezekiah – leading the way. At the half, the Wesmen led 47-34 despite 21 points from Gobeil, as no other Cascade had more than four points at that juncture.
The Wesmen continued to roll in the third quarter, expanding the lead to 20 (58-38) after a Robyn Boulanger three-pointer midway through the frame.
UFV mounted a furious rally – they reeled off an 11-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters, with Julia Tuchscherer scoring six points during that stretch, to get back to within single digits at 58-49 early in the fourth.
Winnipeg responded with nine straight points of their own to get the lead back to 18. But the Cascades – dropping back into a 2-3 zone defence to neutralize the Wesmen’s offensive rebounding – caught fire with a stunning 18-4 outburst to cut the deficit to 71-67 after Gobeil’s sixth triple of the night with 2:40 left in regulation.
After a UFV defensive stop, Deanna Tuchscherer got a wide-open look at a transition three-pointer from the top of the arc, but her shot rimmed out. Giles took over from there, converting a pair of tough shots in the paint to help maintain the Wesmen’s two-possession lead down the stretch.
Gobeil’s 31 points came on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, highlighted by 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. Julia Tuchscherer also had a terrific performance, with 16 points and four rebounds. Victoria Jacobse, playing what turned out to be the final game of her outstanding career, hauled down a team-high 12 rebounds, while fellow senior Alexis Worrell posted six points and led the squad with five assists.
“I’m really proud of Maddy’s effort tonight,” Coach Tuchscherer said. “She went toe-to-toe with Giles, and it was a fun match-up to watch. When we recruited Maddy, we knew she was the type of player who was going to perform in these situations, and she showed that again tonight.”
Giles paced the Wesmen with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Filewich had a huge double-double with 21 points and 14 boards, and Hezekiah contributed 13 points. The Wesmen also did a solid job defensively on UFV leading scorer Deanna Tuchscherer, limiting her to just four points on 2-of-12 shooting.
