Dominant second half gives George Brown women’s basketball its first win

Trailing by 10 points to the Centennial Colts at halftime, George Brown’s women’s basketball team was at a crossroads. Rather than hang their heads, the Huskies took the path of hard work, leading to a 87-78 victory and the team’s first win of the season.

Saturday’s game didn’t always seem fated for a dramatic second half comeback. With Helder the Husky patrolling the sidelines and the newly unveiled Huskies dance pack entertaining the crowd, George Brown got off to a flying start.

It wasn’t long however until the Colts pushed back. Improved rebounding and driving the net allowed George Brown to stem Centennial’s tide, but the Huskies nonetheless trailed 35-25 following 20 minutes of play.

Cue the aforementioned comeback. After just 25 points in the game’s first half, George Brown exploded for 32 in the third quarter alone. Though Centennial still carried a 61-57 lead into the fourth, momentum had clearly swung in George Brown’s favour.

Unsatisfied with winning the third quarter, the Huskies continued to press. By game’s end, George Brown had delighted the home crowd, having outscored Centennial 62-43 in the second half.

With the result, George Brown improves to 1-2 on the young season. Huskies head coach Warren Williams credits increased defensive energy and urgency with the victory.

“In the second half, I thought we did a much better job creating opportunities in transition so that we could score easy baskets, and that really fueled our attack for the rest of the game,” said Williams.

The head coach’s defensive sentiment was echoed by Huskies guard Angel Mbikay, whose power game served to alleviate pressure on 31-point scorer Tianna Sullivan.

“We had to protect our home,” said Mbikay. “We had to realize that everything we did in practice had to be implemented in-game. It all started with defence, boxing out, getting the rebounds”.

In his second-year as Colts head coach, Justin Bobb recognizes it takes time to build a program. His 2-3 squad is already halfway to last year’s win total, and Bobb sees a contrast between last season and this.

“The big difference is, the systems that we put in place last year are now starting to come to fruition for kids that have gotten a chance to learn the way we want them to play and our style of basketball,” said Bobb.

A scary moment came in the second half when George Brown first-year Annastacia Smith-Richards went down hard with an apparent knee injury. “When stuff like that happens, we just have to keep the momentum of what we’re trying to do, which is trying to get the W,” said Mbikay. “One person’s hurt, then we all have to contribute together. It’s all about team.”

The Huskies’ next tilt comes this Friday, a road game against the 4-1 Durham Lords.