Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

Underdogs is a story of Brock Women’s Basketball and the growth of a program through the ups and downs. Starting with the 2015-2016 OUA season, this series will look in-depth at each season with interviews and features of players and staff associated with the program.

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New coach, new staff, new group of players and most importantly a new star replacing Jenalyn at the helm of the Badgers offence complimenting Melissa Tatti. Brock now had Bridget Atkinson running the point next to Melissa Tatti, and Kira Cornelissen moved to the starting centre position along with Alex Symonds and Baelie Campbell at forward.

Ashley MacSporran was now the head coach for the Brock Badgers, previously an assistant coach with the Guelph Gryphons where Bridget Atkinson and Jess Morris previously played. The Badgers play changed to match the new coaches style and the personnel, but the talent of the team was great enough to bridge some of the gaps.

With the additions of Jess Morris, Shannon Northey and Ana Caldeira Rua, this season is where a core of players that Badger fans would see for the next 3-4 years began to really form. Baelie Campbell and Allie Columbus, both entering their second season, had already grown chemistry both on and off the court.

The offence tilted more in favour of the guards in 2016, but that shouldn’t be a surprise when you look at who they had and what they lost. Brock lost a majority of their paint presence after 2015 with only Kira Cornelissen sticking around as a post player and Shannon Northey being recruited in the offseason. In the backcourt they obviously added a star guard to play alongside Melissa who was now in her third year, and the rest of their roster was a mix of shooting guards and small forwards. They were a smaller team than the year before, so to work to their strengths, the ball was in the hands of the guards more often than the year before.

The talents of the guards were put on display right off the bat. Melissa and Bridget led the Badgers in scoring in their first regular season game against the University of Toronto, and their veteran post Kira Cornelissen had herself a game the following weekend against McMaster.

That trio, the speed and shooting ability of Melissa, the mastering of the midrange shot that Bridget showed and the dominance of Kira, would be the focal point for the Badgers offence throughout the season. In their next game against Guelph, Bridget’s former team, Kira led the way with 31 points and 15 rebounds while Bridget Atkinson scored 12, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists. Rookie Shannon Northey showed her abilities in the same game, scoring 13 points and grabbing eight rebounds coming off the bench in their 82-53 victory.

Four Badgers scored in double digits in their overtime loss to McMaster. The starting five of Bridget, Alex, Melissa, Baelie and Kira continued to grow chemistry and learn how to play with each other. Bridget and Kira both tabbed a double-double, Bridget with 25 points and 11 rebounds and Kira with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Baelie scored 14 on 60 per cent shooting along with five rebounds but it wasn’t enough to take down the Marauders, falling to 2-2 to end the month of November.

Their last two games of the semester were against Carleton and Ottawa, both of which they were defeated. Bridget led the scoring in their game against the Ravens while Kira dominated against Ottawa, with Melissa also adding 18 points.

It was easy to see that the starters were getting used to each other, both off their results in every game and the way they were playing. They knew where each of them would be in certain scenarios, they knew how they played and when to clear out of areas to make room for someone with the ball. Bridget knew that when she drove in to the paint for a shot and nothing was there, Melissa would be running along the perimeter waiting for a kick out three, or Kira would be rolling to the rim for a dump pass. That chemistry is very important, not only between Bridget and the other starters, but between Baelie, Kira, Melissa and Alex.

The second semester started and the Badgers added another player to the bench, while Chrissy Sirignano left the team. Stephanie Findlay red shirted the rest of the season, getting to know the team and eventually suiting up to start the 2017 season. She joined Kira, Shannon, Alex and Baelie as a forward and would fit well in the four position, but she wouldn’t play until the roster was much different except a few who she became close with during the second half of 2016.

Just like the end of the first semester, the Badgers started January on the road, games at Nipissing and Laurentian followed by two games at Lakehead University. The Badgers won two of the four, defeating the Nipissing Lakers and the Lakehead Thunderwolves once. Melissa shined in their win over Lakehead, scoring 23 points, dishing seven assists and taking four steals. Jess Morris got her first start as a Badger, getting good minutes against Lakehead and more time playing with the group that had been the cause of much of the Badgers success thus far, time that would prove to be important later on when she was depended on more.

The Badgers went 1-3 to end the month of January, losses to Queen’s, York and Ryerson, with a victory over Guelph in their rematch at the end of the month. Bridget once again made a statement against her former squad, leading the game with 27 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals, all from inside the 3-point line. Jess Morris became a frequent starter in the second semester and she found her rhythm, contributing heavily on the boards and defensive end, as she would be known for throughout the rest of her career.

February ended off the Badgers up and down season just like it had been all year, winning three of five games and earning a playoff berth against Lakehead where unfortunately they lost.

February was also the start of many more changes and unfortunate losses. In their first game of the month, second year player and defensive hustle player Allie Columbus tore her ACL which put her out for the rest of the season and the first half of the 2017 season, Bridget Atkinson got injured in the game against Western which ended her season and the Badgers were suddenly in the off-season where more changes awaited them.

Kira Cornelissen, Alex Symonds, Bridget Atkinson, Melissa Tatti and Jess Morris all left the team during the offseason and didn’t return for the 2017 season, a jolt to the group that was building chemistry throughout the season. Baelie Campbell, Ana Caldeira Run, Allie Columbus and Shannon Northey were all that was left of the 2016 team going into the next season, along with Ashley MacSporran and her coaching staff, and Stephanie Findlay who would make her debut on the roster.

A new large group of recruits came in and the small core that remained, had a job to do as they tried to mold the new recruits into the system that was in place.