STU Tommies basketball teams fall to MSVU to begin the semester

STU Women's Basketball Vs MSVU Mystics (Submitted: Tommies Athletics)

St. Thomas University basketball teams played the Mt. Saint Vincent University (MSVU) Mystics teams on Jan. 11, to start the second half of their seasons. 

Both the women’s and men’s Tommies were 3-3 going into the game. The Mystic women’s team were 6-3, while the men’s were an undefeated 9-0.

The women’s game started with STU on defence for nearly a minute before Tommie guard Alyssa Jeffrey scored a layup from a breakout pass from Charlee Connors. Jeffrey then assisted forward Claudia Steeves with a two-pointer in front of the basket.

Forward Katie Vidito and guard Kylee Roi pressed on with multiple breakouts to apply pressure on the Mystics. In contrast, Steeves, Jeffrey and guard Reegan Kerr played defence, keeping opposing players out.

Head Coach Fred Connors said that the team is very defensive-oriented.

“We’ve always had [either the] top one or two defences in the league for as long as I’ve been here.”

Despite multiple travelling calls against MSVU during the second quarter, STU began to lose their footing and fell behind in scoring. Despite great advances from Charlee Connors and Vidito into the other end, they couldn’t find the basket.

“We have to find ways to score. We’re not really scoring a lot off of our defence,” said coach Connors.

Third-year STU guard Kathleen Quinlan explained the team has had difficulties ending their shot-makers.

“We’ve been working on our offence sets and we’re seeing improvement in practice, so let’s hope it turns over to games,” she said.

The Tommies took a barrage of fouls from the Mystics to begin the third quarter. Later, Jeffrey took advantage of a turnover for a shot in the middle of the crescent while Roi broke an MSVU guard’s ankles for a shot.

The final quarter showed great teamwork between Vidito, Bartley and Charlee Connors as they defended their zone. Near the end, Mystic’s forward Jenna Matheson knocked down Vidito, who took some time to get up. The final score was 72-37 for MSVU.

On the other hand, the men’s Tommies took the court shortly after the women’s team finished. The beginning of the game was highlighted by multiple points scored by STU guard Evan Valanne and forward Owen Amos from both sides of the play.

Amos said that they started strong against the best team in the league but began to slip.

“Their energy fed into that and we kind of were stagnant, so I think that was a big part of why we lost,” Amos said.

The gap in scoring began to widen in favour of the Mystics at 17-28. Then, Valanne was again called for fouling while immediately scoring a layup after and guard Ben Dool started setting up plays with Amos in the third, passing it around until he hit a swish-three-pointer.

Despite this, MSVU took every chance they could to score in the third quarter. The game finished with STU struggling to score. A layup was completed by McCarthy who flew into the wall’s protective padding making the play. The final score was 90-71 for the Mystics.

Head Coach Jon Hickey didn’t believe it was a good showing for the Tommies.

“I thought [MSVU] came out and kind of got to do what they want,” he said. “We didn’t play with nearly enough energy and it then translated into not fast enough offensively and to them getting the looks that they wanted to get defensively.”

Looking toward the remainder of the season

Amos thinks that the men’s team needs to improve this semester by working harder and being vocal.

“Our energy, both on the court and on the bench, should be better,” he said.

Hickey is confident that his team will go far with players with strong work ethics who can put the ball in the net. He said that they need to practice being persistent.

“Our shot selection needs to be a little bit better, just more consistent in that area. We need to be a little bit more consistent with our defensive energy.”

The women’s team have 12 games this half of the season compared to six in the first semester. Their schedule goes till the end of March due to hosting the Women’s Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship.

“We know that this semester is going to test us. We’re going to be tired, there’s going to be injuries and sickness,” said Quinlan. “We need to really focus on pushing through that and being okay with being uncomfortable.”