USports Yearbook: UNB Reds vs Memorial Seahawks, 2/16/20
The USports Yearbook is an on-going series looking back at some of the best basketball games played by Canadian college teams in the 2019-20. This unassuming match-up between two teams meeting for the fourth time in the season made for an exceptionally exciting Sunday morning.
The UNB Reds were the hosts, having lost by a single point to the Memorial Seahakws just the day before, after both teams had each won over one another by more convincing margins earlier in the season. After the close game of February 15th, more drama was to follow.
The Reds were the first to make the scoreboard, but the Seahawks were hot on their heels from the moment they fell behind. After Katie Daley gave UNB a five-point lead after three minutes, Alana Short and Haille Nickerson combined to put Memorial in front by one. Three lead changes followed, the last of which saw UNB ahead 13-11 by the quarter's end.
When play resumed, both teams' defence made it hard for one another to get any open looks at basket, though the Reds were sitting on a four-point lead. Midway through the quarter, Ines Salat Margarit and Ashley Collins put the Seahawks up by one, and that single point lead went back and forth between the teams before Jolian Guay and Grace Simpson gifted a larger lead to UNB.
Nickerson kept a one point gap between the teams and after a number of missed attempts from both teams, Gabrielle Roche put the Seahawks up one from the line. Simpson and Bailey Black both found favour with the basket in the last seconds of the half, which saw the Reds head to the locker room with a three-point lead.
Daley, Guay and Eva Tumwine kept UNB's lead healthy at the start of the second half, before it was cut down by Alana Short and then levelled off by Roche after six minutes. Mikaela Dodig hit twice in a row to put the Reds up by five, and after Salat closed the gap to two Hannah Green tied the scores at 51 apiece going into the final period.
Both teams had trouble finding the basket to begin the fourth quarter until Ashley Collins hit a jump shot for Memorial, but UNB followed with six unanswered to go up by three.
After a number of missed attempts, Nickerson hit a three pointer with sixteen seconds left to tie the scores. Dodig tried to put the game to bed with a layup, only for Nickerson to do the same for Memorial in the last seconds of regulation.
UNB began overtime with a 6-0 run, which the Seahawks followed with seven unanswered, making it a one-point game with sixteen seconds on the clock.
Coming out of a timeout, Tumwine got a jump shot to connect with five seconds left and Nickerson made a final layup attempt which didn't drop for Memorial. The Reds avenged the loss of the day before in dramatic fashion, with the 71-70 OT victory.
Hallie Nickerson's game-high 27 points would be the consolation for the Seahakws in the loss, while UNB had plenty to celebrate besides the win. With 20 points to her name, including those that won the game, Eva Tumwine took Player of the Game honours.
Her team mate Mikaela Dodig, who made three quarters of all the Red's three-pointers in the game, finished with 17 points and Grace Simpson finished with 13 points and rebounds in one of the team's most memorable games of the season.
Picture: Alex Dascalu
