The most successful season in the history of the women's basketball program has come to an end after an incredibly hard fought 69-62 loss to the No. 1 Queen's Gaels on Wednesday night in Kingston.
It was a tough opening half for the Warriors shooting just around 20% and found themselves down 40-24 at the break but the never-say die resilient Warriors squad went to work in the second half and chipped away at the Queen's lead. Waterloo outscored the Gaels 17-15 in the third quarter to give themselves a shot in the fourth.
Down 62-46 with 6:43 to play, the Warriors went on a 12-1 run to cut the deficit down to single digits as Queen's held a 63-56 lead. After a few made buckets by the home side,
Maddy Adams (Drumbo, ON/) and
Mackenzie Obermayer (Hanover, ON/) made two clutch shots to make it a four-point game with 1:28 to play. Unfortunately, it became a fouling game down the stretch and the Gaels made the key shots from the line in the final minute to secure the 69-62 victory. Queen's would end up going 23-for-32 from the charity stripe compared to 10-for-16 from Waterloo which would prove to be the difference in the game.Â
Leading the way for Waterloo was
Vanessa Hughes (Hamilton, ON/) who went 8-for-28 including five made 3-pointers while adding three assists, three steals and eight rebounds.
Kaitlyn Overeem (Brantford, ON/) was also in double digits with 13 points.
Jaime Newell (Brussels, ON/) had a solid game as well with eight points and 10 boards.
Maddy Adams (Drumbo, ON/) rounded out Waterloo's offence with seven points of her own.
Leading the way for Queen's was Emma Weltz who had 20 points while Laura Donovan had 14 and Bridget Mulholland 13.
The Warriors have nothing to hang their head about after their most historic season ever and first OUA semifinal appearance since 1986. They will be back ready to compete for a title e once again next season.Â
