Wesmen women finish 2-1 at BOB FM Tournament

Over the weekend, team gelled and set the stage for successful season

Alyssa Grant was one of the Wesmen’s big scorers at the BOB FM basketball tournament at the U of W Oct. 8-10. Courtesy Wesmen
Amy Ogidan was one of the Wesmen’s big scorers at the BOB FM basketball tournament at the U of W Oct. 8-10. Courtesy Wesmen

The Wesmen women’s basketball team kicked off their season by hosting the BOB FM tournament Friday, Oct. 8 to Sunday, Oct. 10.

Their first game of the year was a thrilling Friday night contest against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. 

Rookie guard Stephanie Kleysen had an impressive start to her Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) career with a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds. 

“It was a good experience,” she commented. “The whole competitive environment is very different from high school. I love it!”

After the first half, Lakehead was trailing 27-17. They came out strong in the third quarter, and outscored the Wesmen 32-27 in the second half.

Despite the Thunderwolves efforts, they could not overcome the Wesmen’s lead, and Winnipeg won their first game of the tournament, 54-49.

The next day the Wesmen took on cross-town rivals the Manitoba Bisons.

Winnipeg started the game strong and took an early lead, which they held onto for the majority of the game. It was a battle throughout, but the Wesmen remained in control for the first three quarters.

Wesmen captains, fifth-year Catie Gooch and fourth-year Amy Ogidan, led their team with 16 and 23 points respectively.

On the other side, Bisons’ fifth-year captain Kayla Klassen had 21 points and Lauren Mortier added another 14. 

The Wesmen lost steam in the final 10 minutes, allowing the Bisons to dominate the last quarter of the game and outscore the Wesmen 17-4.

When the final buzzer rang, the Bisons defeated the Wesmen, 69-60.

Ogidan reflected on the game as a learning experience for the team, which helped them against the Brandon Bobcats the next day. 

“We knew that we needed to play four hard quarters,” she said. “We focused on starting the game strong and ending it strong, because against Manitoba we didn’t have a strong fourth quarter and it cost us the game.”

On Sunday, in their final game of the tournament, the Wesmen knew they had to bring the same intensity and focus to the floor for the full 40 minutes.

Coming out strong from the tip-off, the Wesmen dominated the entire game against the Bobcats. 

They took an early lead, and finished the first quarter leading 20-11.

In the second quarter, they put on a show, outscoring the Bobcats 23-9. At the half, the Wesmen were up 43-20, and they maintained a substantial lead throughout the rest of the game.

The final score read 70-41.

Winnipeg’s Alyssa Grant had 15 points and 10 boards, while Ogidan added 13 points, and Kleysen added another 12.

Grant said that the weekend was great for the team, and over the three games they showed improvement.

“By Sunday we had settled down and come together as a team,” she said. “There were still mistakes, but we’re learning, and we can see a lot of potential for this year.”

Published in Volume 65, Number 7 of The Uniter (October 14, 2010)

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