Box Score The Varsity Blues women’s basketball team won 60-55 over the Queen’s Gaels at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym Saturday evening, during the third game of U of T’s Think Pink week.

Third-year guard Jill Stratton (Etobicoke, Ont.) posted 14 points and seven rebounds to lead the Blues. Toronto also had double digit contributions from Rachael Sider (New Westminster, B.C.) and Alicia Van Kampen (Amaranth, Ont.) with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Gaels (6-10) were led by Jenny Wright’s (Kingston, Ont.) game-high 17 points and starting guard Liz Boag (Kingston, Ont.) also chipped in 13.

The final frame saw Toronto hold an 18-point advantage at one point, only to have to stave off a Queen’s rally in the final few minutes to win their second straight contest. Down ten with just under four to play, the Gaels had the lead down to four points in the final minute before time ran out on the comeback.

The first quarter saw the Gaels jump out to the early lead with a 9-6 run to start the game. The Blues offence started thanks to scoring from all across the team. A 9-0 run was capped off with a successful three-point play by Vanessa Brathwaite (Brampton, Ont.) to give Toronto the lead by six. They closed out the quarter holding a 17-13 advantage.

The physical play continued in the second quarter, as both teams had trouble finding an offensive rhythm due to strong defence from the opposing side. Queen’s managed only six points in the quarter and finished the half shooting 19 per cent from the field. The Varsity Blues saw buckets from five different players off the bench in the first half and extended their lead to eight after the first 20 minutes of play.

In the third quarter Toronto was able to build on their halftime lead thanks to eight points from Stratton and five key points from Van Kampen. The fourth-year forward had the Blues up 49-32 to close out the third when she got the hoop and one in the final six seconds.

The Varsity Blues (7-7) will take the court for their next game on Friday, February 1 when they host Laurentian (5-9) for a 6 p.m. start.
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