Bobcats snap eight-game losing skid

Ella Averill came to Brandon University to be a matchup nightmare.

She was all of that and more on Friday.

The six-foot-one forward got to the free-throw line a whopping 15 times, recording 22 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the dying seconds of an 80-70 victory over the Winnipeg Wesmen at the Healthy Living Centre.

The Bobcats improved to 4-9 on the Canada West women’s basketball season.

“It was a really good effort from all the girls … everyone doing their job. We’re so happy,” Averill said. “Obviously to start the game, they gave us a bit of a punch in the face. We came back and showed them not to mess with us.”

For Averill, that meant something a little different. She took a shot to the nose early and had to leave for a few minutes to plug it up and clean the blood off her jersey. But she returned in the first quarter and played 32 hyper-aggressive minutes.

“I was like, ‘If they’re going to play physical, I’ll play physical back,’ and it worked in my favour really,” Averill said with a grin.

Both teams got all the looks they wanted early, as Piper Ingalls connected on an early three-pointer and Averill got downhill to the rim to draw three fouls and make four free throws.

But the Bobcats simply didn’t hit enough shots to keep pace, going 1-for-8 from deep.

The Wesmen (2-9) worked their way to the rim time and time again, opening it up for Raia Guinto to hit a pair of long balls.

Winnipeg also went on a parade to the free-throw line, drawing eight fouls and hitting seven of 11 free throws to lead 28-17 through 10 minutes.

The Bobcats still struggled to defend anything in the second quarter and turned the ball over too much to catch up early in the second quarter.

But Ingalls went on a hot streak from deep, hitting triples on four straight possessions to cut the deficit to 41-38.

That injection of life translated into a complete turnaround on the defensive end.

Macaya Copeland added another trey to tie it up with less than three minutes left in the half, then Averill capped Brandon’s 11-0 run to pull ahead.

Jennifer Edwards banked a three to end the run and retake the lead, only for Ingalls to drill yet another bomb — with a foul — for a four-point play to go up 47-44 at halftime.

“We’re such a vibes team. It just takes one person to light that spark, and everyone feeds off of it,” Averill said. “If Piper’s shooting well, they start to collapse, and it opens up the post for me. If I’m able to get looks, it opens shots back up for the girls.”

Someone forgot to take the lids off the rims for the first four minutes of the third quarter. Both teams missed their first 10 shots of the frame before Averill knocked down a layup.

Brandon had its biggest lead of the game at 53-44 before Winnipeg finally hit a shot more than six minutes in.

However, it matched BU’s 6-0 run to make it a one-possession game again.

The lowest-scoring quarter of the season — 10-8 Winnipeg — meant Brandon clung to a 55-54 edge heading to the fourth.

It was all Bobcats early in the fourth as Ingalls hit a three, then found Averill for a mismatch inside. She drew a foul, hit both shots, then added a put-back layup to extend the lead to eight again.

It took the Wesmen another four minutes to get on the scoreboard in the final frame, but it doesn’t take a mathematician to know two points every four minutes isn’t enough.

On the other end, Averill realized no one could stop her from getting to the rim, and the Aussie did her best Tasmanian Devil impression to spin past two Wesmen at a time for a few layups to put the game out of reach.

To make matters worse for Winnipeg, Guinto went down with a right leg injury and was carried off while her team trailed 70-56.

The Wesmen came within five by driving aggressively but started chucking bricks from deep and couldn’t narrow the gap further.

While Winnipeg found some success early on second-chance points, Jayna Maytwayashing completely limited those, hauling down 15 of her game-high 17 rebounds on the defensive end.

“Honestly, no words. She had an absolute cracker,” Averill said.

“That, and blocks, she’s our defensive warrior. If they statted everyone of her blocks, she’d be DPOY … I’m so proud of her.”

Winnipeg had to play the foul game, and BU ended the night making an impressive 29 of 36 from the stripe to put the game on ice.

Ingalls finished with a game-high 26 points, while Edwards led Winnipeg with 16.

Brandon snapped its eight-game losing streak to stay in sixth place in the Prairie Division.

“We had such a good week of training being back, everyone’s really happy,” Averill said. “It was really good for us, just to show what we’ve been working on and show we can compete.”

The Bobcats and Wesmen meet again today at 5 p.m., with the men following at 7 o’clock.

BU VOLLEYBALL: The Bobcats’ volleyball matches against the host Fraser Valley Cascades ended after deadline. They play again today.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com