Bisons catch fire in comeback win over Bobcats

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This article was published 12/02/2022 (1388 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon University Bobcats finally found themselves in a wire-to-wire battle on Friday.

They even played with a lead for a good chunk of the second half. But the Manitoba Bisons caught fire when they needed to, making eight of 13 three-pointers down the stretch to win 75-67 and improve to 3-12 in Canada West women’s basketball action at the Healthy Living Centre.

Finnish import Reetta Tulkki had a career-high 24 points, scoring at will to give Brandon (0-13) a chance at its first win. While there were no late heroics, there weren’t any heads hanging on the way to the locker room either. They’re focused on the Feb. 18 rematch.

“I don’t see us bringing any less than we did (Friday),” said second-year forward Eden Tabin. “I think we’re going to go in there … with 10 times more energy. This definitely drives the team, especially losing by this little.”

The Bobcats seldom play anyone more than 30 minutes a night but that changed as Tulkki played 36 of the 40, and served as a true focal point of the offence. She went just 2-for-7 from deep but found a ton of success in the post against smaller guards, and the Bobcats did a good job of finding her.

“It’s different when you have someone on your team that’s hot. You always look for where they are,” Tabin said. “It’s being aware of where she is and getting her the ball because she can score anywhere.

“That’s going to be a big thing for us.”

The men’s game was postponed as the Bisons had too many players in COVID-19 protocols.

Tulkki hit a three to lead 5-2 early, but the Bisons went to work with an intense press that caused fits for Brandon.

The Bobcats barely got the ball over the timeline for a few minutes and turned it over seven times in the opening frame.

The Bisons, however, committed eight turnovers and went 1-for-10 from three. The Bobcats scored a couple of key buckets when they pushed the pace, including a Chelsea Misskey steal-and-score. Lauren Bartlett’s late triple gave Manitoba a 14-11 lead after 10 minutes.

Sydney Latrace and Adrianna Proulx drilled threes on back-to-back possessions to put Brandon ahead 17-16, then the next six minutes featured two defences applying too much pressure for either offence to handle.

When the Bobcats got into the penalty, Tulkki hit a pair of free throws, then scored the following possession on a tough floater in the paint. The Finn air-balled a three, but Proulx chased it down and leapt over the baseline to blindly save it to Tulkki, who cashed in to put BU ahead 25-22.

The final 90 seconds of the half were an offensive flurry. Emerson Martin scored a quick five points, Tulkki replied with two, and Bison guard Talia Peters returned from an ankle injury to nail a three and go up 32-30.

Tulkki found Latrace for a clutch three to give BU a 33-32 advantage at the break.

It was certainly a physical game, and five-foot-three guard Piper Ingalls backed down from no one as she drove the lane for several hard-earned buckets. So did Proulx, who drew a whopping six fouls herself.

“Some of my shots weren’t falling so I had to keep driving. There were some girls that got a little rough with me but that’s just the game,” Ingalls said.

“… I was pushing back a bit.”

BU opened up its largest lead of the season right away in the third. Latrace scored on a second chance, then Tulkki carved up the Bisons defence with two crafty spin moves down low to go ahead 39-32.

Manitoba didn’t hit a field goal until the midway point of the quarter, but the Bartlett sisters drained three straight triples to restore the Bisons lead 44-39.

Tulkki continued to dominate Lauren Bartlett in the post with an easy score, then a corner trey as Manitoba went into the fourth up 48-46.

The Manitoba press was still an issue, accounting for the bulk of Brandon’s 24 turnovers.

“We need to just take a breath, for sure. And (go) harder in practice because all of this starts in practice, easily,” Tabin said. “Getting up on each other in practice and just taking a breath, faking a pass, taking a little more time.”

The teams traded buckets for the first three minutes of the fourth until Deidre Bartlett broke it open 64-55 with a pair of corner threes. Brandon clawed back to 65-61 but Lana Shypit put it out of reach with eight of her team-high 14 points in the fourth. The Bisons led 70-63 with two minutes left and got enough stops to win.

“As we kept on shooting they were going in. They were finally falling so that got us over the hump,” said Shypit, who Brandon left open as it keyed on Manitoba’s other guards. “… If someone’s focusing on one person, it’s your job to step up to help the team.”

FREE THROWS: Brandon out-rebounded Manitoba 53-45, but allowed 23 points off turnovers to its 14 … Proulx was one shy of her season-high with 15 points.

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