Ingalls makes Bisons work for weekend sweep

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This article was published 13/01/2025 (248 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Piper Ingalls can single-handedly change a game. She proved it on Saturday, at least for a while.

The Brandon University Bobcats senior guard dropped 17 first-half points to keep her team close a night after the Manitoba Bisons cranked them by 37.

The Bisons adjusted in the second half and held Ingalls to two, pulling away with a 74-61 victory at the Healthy Living Centre to improve to 5-5 on the Canada West women’s basketball season.

“(Friday) we started off really slow and weren’t really in the game. Losing by 37’s a lot. There weren’t a lot of Xs and Os we had to go through. It was just going harder basically, so that’s what we did today,” Ingalls said.

“I was really proud of them. Everybody worked really hard today, it just sucks, the outcome.”

It’s the Moose Jaw, Sask., native’s third year as a starter. After a dip to 8.2 points per game from her career-high of 12.1 in 2022-23, she’s back at close to 12 a night and feeling confident about her game again for one big reason.

“Coach (Ilarion Bonhomme), 100 per cent,” Ingalls said. “I feel way more confident than I did last year and Coach is helping me improve a lot with all facets of my game, so it’s really nice.”

It didn’t take long for her to bounce back from the down year, as she netted 36 in a pre-season game at the University of Winnipeg. While the Bobcats have faced a gauntlet of tough defensive teams in the first half of the regular season, her teammates know she has the ability to light it up.

“I trust Piper, she’s a vet, she knows exactly what she has to do for our team,” said import guard Amaya McLeod.

“I know she takes a lot, I know a lot of people zone in on her and she does it well. She was getting a little beat up today and she took it well.

“We always need Piper to be zoned in, locked in on offence and defence. She played a great defensive and offensive game. I’m very proud of that kid right now.”

The Bobcats (2-10) punched first on Saturday as Ingalls, Taya Clark and Abbey Shand knocked down their first shots to lead 7-0.

Manitoba’s second unit answered with Darya Rom leading the way. The rookie guard scored more than half her team’s points on a 15-3 run.

Cali Yates hit a three-pointer to keep it close but Manitoba still led 21-17 after the first quarter.

Ingalls caught fire in the second, giving BU the lead on a triple while being fouled by Sydnee Harris. She hit another the following possession to make it 25-23, and another a few minutes later with the shot clock near zero to go up three.

Brandon contained Manitoba’s inside game much better than on Friday, limiting it to 12 points in the paint, and trailed just 37-35 at halftime.

“They weren’t playing up on me as much as yesterday so I did have a lot more space and the bigs were screening for me so that was helping me get open,” Ingalls said.

“A lot of girls were hitting shots so they had other people to worry about.”

The Bisons heated up from beyond the arc after the break as four of them knocked treys down during their best quarter of the night to pull ahead 58-50.

Manitoba locked down on the defensive end in the fourth, keeping open looks to a minimum while connecting on more than enough on the other end to pull away and avoid letting another Ingalls hot streak make it interesting.

Clark finished with 11 points on 50 per cent shooting for Brandon while Anna Miko posted a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bobcats stay home to face the Mount Royal Cougars this Friday and Saturday.

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