Bobcats hang around, seek stronger fourth quarters

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/12/2023 (743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There were times the Brandon University Bobcats appeared very much in rebuild mode, and others they appeared lightyears ahead of that over their first 10 Canada West games.

It almost caught everyone on the floor by surprise as they were legitimately in a handful of games well into the fourth quarter.

Not bad for a women’s basketball team without its full-time head coach, which lost its only fifth-year player before the season and is playing multiple rookies for big minutes.

Brandon kept four games within 16 points, forcing some quality teams to keep their starters in a whole lot longer than they may have anticipated.

“The teams we knew we were going to compete with, we rose to the challenge and we competed with,” Taggart said.

“For our youth, we’re right where we thought we would be where we can put one quarter, two quarter, three quarters together and getting a ton of experience learning how to compete in that fourth quarter.”

LOOKING BACK

The Bobcats pre-season couldn’t have started much worse.

Their lone senior, Sydney Teece, went down with a serious knee injury two weeks into training camp, ending her U Sports career at the snap of a ligament.

Teece was an X-factor for the Bobcats women’s basketball team, standing just five-foot-six, but rebounding like a six-footer, defending anyone on the floor and helping their transition offence flow.

“We were devastated to lose Teece. That was definitely not part of our plan, especially with her being so veteran,” Taggart said.

The Bobcats still kicked off the regular season with a relatively promising weekend, leading the Manitoba Bisons in the second half of their second game before falling 77-66.

Brandon battled back from down 18 in the second half and 11 with less than four minutes left against Thompson Rivers to tie it in the final minute and lose 77-72.

The Bobcats experienced some thorough beatdowns at the hands of championship contenders in Calgary and Regina, but bounced back from a 111-58 loss to Trinity Western to stick within 15 the following night.

While BU’s getting beat on size, speed and talent, it isn’t taking games, quarters or possessions off. Taggart’s team is learning on the fly as rookies and second-years who didn’t play much last year take huge steps up to the toughest level they’ve ever played and showing no signs of quitting.

They are ahead of Victoria, MacEwan and Winnipeg in scoring (55.1 points per game). but dead last on the defensive end, allowing 89.9.

FOR STARTERS

Reetta Tulkki took a while to get going when she arrived in Brandon. Now that the Finnish import has adjusted to the physical Canada West game, she’s been the star former head coach Novell Thomas recruited her to be back in 2020.

Tulkki had just two games under double-digit scoring — both in games BU didn’t hit score more than 40 — and is averaging a career-high 13.9 ppg.

She’s also averaging nearly 35 minutes per game, something no one did under coach James Bambury in her first two years as he looked to develop everyone across the roster.

Beside her in the backcourt, Piper Ingalls is playing confidently and all signs point to her 7.3 ppg seeing a bump when her three-pointers start falling at higher than her current 22 per cent clip.

“Piper and Reetta are the ones that are getting the big minutes because they’re showing up and directing traffic,” Taggart said.

“One thing we notice is Reetta is the John Deere farm truck where you go out every day and there she is, she’s in the field, she’s going to do her job, she’s going to finish it, she’s going to show up, she’s going to perform.

“Her minutes are big because we’re leaning on her while the rest of the team works to find their own voice.”

A good chuck of BU’s scoring is coming from the wings as Faith Clearsky and Cali Yates have stepped up to career-highs in minutes.

Clearsky is averaging 10.2 ppg and shooting 27.9 per cent from three while Yates is up to 7.3 and 30.6.

“Faith and Cali, they definitely are taking advantage of the opportunity,” Taggart said.

“They have dedicated themselves to this program. They are workhorses on and off the court, they take their role very seriously. They are retaining a ton of information and they are just fearless.”

Jayna Maytwayashing has started over veteran forward Eden Tabin while she’s still recovering from a torn ACL in the final weekend of the 2022-23 season.

Tabin’s impressively playing months ahead of schedule but only around 14 minutes per game for now.

OFF THE BENCH

Halifax products Emma and Mya Cameron have wasted no time jumping into the fire as rookies.

They’re averaging 25 and 18.6 mpg, respectively, combining for 9.4 ppg.

Understandably, they’re making more mistakes and turnovers than they used to in high school as they adjust to the speed of the game. Taggart is okay with that, as long as they’re the right kind of mistakes.

Overall, the Bobcats are averaging 27.6 turnovers per game, better than just Victoria and MacEwan.

“One thing James always says is we’re going to make mistakes of aggression, not mistakes of fear. We might see those turnovers but those turnovers are on film, we’re breaking down film and we’re saying ‘Why did you do this?’” Taggart said.

“A lot of people forget there’s not one member of our women’s basketball team that lives at home. We have kids living alone, living in res, cooking, doing all these things and trying to study. That is why we see this fluctuation of performance week to week.

“They’re going through complete life changes on top of a new head coach.”

MOVING FORWARD

The Bobcats have a handful of legitimate chances to crack the win column in the second half.

They start 2024 at home on Jan. 5 and 6 against the Winnipeg Wesmen (1-9), who are on a rebuild after chasing a 2022 national title and falling in the final with a veteran-laden roster.

BU visits Saskatchewan (10-0), which will be at least slightly tougher, then hosts the 0-8 MacEwan Griffins before back-to-back road trips to Fraser Valley (7-1) and then Victoria (0-6) to cap the season.

While everyone wants to win, Taggart wants her group to continue focusing on longer-term goals and not forget what it’s working on to chase immediate success.

“It’s really establishing in their brains what it takes to win. It’s not just a fluke … it’s not one person scoring 30 points, four of us aren’t going to sit back and one of us is going to secure us the win,” she said.

“We as a team have to come together, we have to lock down on key players, we have to execute defensive strategies, we have to take advantage of our offensive opportunities and make good decisions.”

She added, “We understand this year is an investment year for us, they’re investing in the program, investing in each other. The win would be the cherry on top, but it’s not the end goal for us. The win is to establish a culture in this program that can sustain winning.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5