In a weekend where nothing has come easy, the uOttawa Gee-Gees survived a second-half scare against the UBC Thunderbirds to secure the U Sports bronze medal, just hours after the Gee-Gees men’s team did the same.
Winning by a 68-61 final score, the Gee-Gees were forced to recover after the Thunderbirds evaporated their 16-point lead in the third quarter. Allie McCarthy paced uOttawa with 20 points, while fifth-year Natsuki Szczokin earned player of the game honours in her final U Sports game.
“We came into nationals, all of us it was our first time as a team here … and we came in here wanting to just work hard and try our best and we came out with the medal and that’s exactly what we wanted to do,” Szczokin said.
After a shattering semifinal loss to the Carleton Ravens the night earlier, Szczokin was a force all afternoon, starting by posting five assists and a three-pointer to set the tone in the game’s opening minutes.
Head coach Rose-Anne Joly said she was proud of her team’s determination not to head back to Ottawa empty-handed.
“It’s definitely not the medal that we wanted, but we wanted to at least leave with something around our neck and we were able to accomplish that,” Joly said.
Despite falling behind early to the Gee-Gees, the host Thunderbirds were unrelenting, led by 6-foot-4 forward Jessica Clarke’s 17 points and game-high 15 rebounds. She brought her team within striking distance late in the third frame before teammate Mona Berlitz sank a three-pointer to give UBC its first lead of the game.
Just like their tight quarterfinal win against the Laval Rouge et Or, the Gee-Gees needed to mount a small comeback after losing a grip on its lead. Leaning on veterans McCarthy and Szczokin, who put up 10 and eight points, respectively, uOttawa outscored the T-Birds 20-11 in the final quarter.
“We just needed a run,” Joly said. “I know with my team when we do a small run, we’re good after, so I was just hoping for that one.”
The U Sports medal now serves as the crowning achievement of Szczokin’s university career. Looking ahead, she said she’s excited for the team’s experience to fuel the program for years to come.
“Using this experience as a way to move forward and have more games at nationals is definitely something that’s very good for the team and I think it just shows how good of a program we have here,” Szczokin said.
Joly said next season’s roster is in limbo with several players’ future plans still unconfirmed, but the team’s first taste of national basketball in more than a decade was something to savour.
“Unfortunately, obviously Natsuki’s not gonna be there [next season] … but now it sets the tone, now we lived the experience and I’m sure it’s gonna be something we wanna do year after year.”
Featured photo by Janson Duench/The Charlatan.
