Waterloo’s men’s and women’s basketball teams both fought to the finish at recent season-finale games in Hamilton where they faced the McMaster Marauders. The men’s team went down 68–90, while the women’s lost 43–77.
Despite having lost, both the men’s and women’s teams demonstrated their tremendous Warrior pride throughout the game and their two-term seasons.
The men started their season winning two of three games at October’s Naismith Classic. Season highlights include an overtime thriller 81–80 win over Western in the PAC, and a home game 83-56 drubbing of the Brock Badgers Jan. 29. First-year point guard, and OUA all-rookie Myles Charvis had a 35-point performance in a tight 78–75 loss to the Windsor Lancers Feb. 5.
Jaspreet Gill and Wayne Bridge were among the season’s top scorers alongside Charvis. The men finished the season with a 5–17 record. The men’s team is currently on a tour of China with the Chinese Basketball Association. They are showcasing international basketball through a series of games with the Chinese national junior team, the USA all-star prep school team, and a team from Lithuania.
The women ended off 2–20 in regular season standings in a season filled with tough losses. In an early game against York, the Warriors had fourth-year player Mackenzie Lougheed to thank for one of their two wins this season, she put the Warriors up by one with only seven seconds left on the clock. They took the home game 50–49, and Lougheed finished with a game-high 13 points, nine rebounds, and three steals.
Despite their efforts, the women were outscored 106–35 by four-time defending champions, Windsor Lancers, at a OUA West tournament in what was the nadir of their season.
Madison Behr scored 55 points in three games with 18-, 19-, and 18-point performances against some of the league’s top teams.
“I was pleased with the girls. We only graduated one player … we’ve got high hopes for next year’s finals. We’re going to work our butts off,” said Tyler Slipp, head coach of the women’s team.
First-year guard Kristen Osborne, who averaged 8.2 points, and 3.5 rebounds per game was named to the OUA all-rookie team.
“We had a good season from our younger players,” commented Slipp.
“We were hoping we’d get a couple more wins in the win-loss column, but it doesn’t always work out that way,” said Slipp.
