Cougars versus Bobcats

Who is ready for a basketball game!?

Are you a new student and debating if you should go to a sporting event, but may be a tad nervous? Maybe you used to go sporting events all the time and got a little bit out of habit since COVID-19, and you are debating what it is like to be back in the stands. Well, the Carillon is here to tell you what it is like to be in the stands in person inside of the Kinesiology, Health and Sport Building.

I found out the Cougars are doing a fundraiser for Shoot the Cure, also known as the Kevin Tell Legacy Fund. This fund is to honour and to remember Keven Tell, who passed away this past January. If you go on Instagram and find the Cougars women’s page, the link is in their bio. So far, they have raised over $15,000 in donations. So, Carillon readers, after this article try to hit that link if you can donate some money – we are sure the Cougars team will be thankful for your donation! What a great way to spread awareness and get a donation. It was great to hear about, and I hope you enjoyed learning about that, too. Although, we came here to watch the Cougars play, so let’s get you into the game!

I went to the game on February 24 where the women’s basketball team had their second last regular season game against Brandon. When you first walk in, be prepared to scan a QR code to buy your tickets online if you did not purchase them before the game – and if you are a student make sure to bring along your Student ID so you can get in for free!

Now that you are in, sit where you please and pick a spot that is comfy. The venue has lots of spots to choose from! When it was time for jump ball, the Bobcats won. The first quarter of the game was pretty steady for both teams. The Cougars started out fresh and ready to go in the game. Reid started out the game with two three-pointers (are we surprised though?) to start off the Cougars hard! Even though the Cougars had some three-point shots that were good for the team, the Brandon team made the spectators think twice with their wicked fast passes down and around the key. The first quarter ended with the score being 15-14 for the Cougars.

While the teams figure out a game plan, us spectators have two minutes just to relax or talk with our friends about the feelings we have about how the game is going – then it is time to start back up again. Because the score was so close, the Cougars wanted to make the Brandon team feel some at-home pressure, and man did they do a good job. The Cougars put on the pressure for the Bobcats as they made them count down the shot clock.

An insight us spectators get when we are sitting in the stands and not watching on TV is the crowd and benches yelling “d-fence.” You can hear the coaches get riled up, and the parents too. Well, just before the half time, the Bobcats coach got a little upset with the referees and did not agree with a call that was made for a foul. This is some interesting action you can see on the stands compared to on the television. But not even the pressure and a bad call stopped the Bobcats. Both teams kept the pressure up, finishing the first half of the game with a close score of 37-26 for the Cougars.

As the teams head to the locker room for a quick break, us spectators can catch a break too. Go freshen up or grab a snack from the vending machine before the second half!

Straight from the start of the third quarter, the Cougars were putting on the pressure using a full court press. The full court press was definitely making a difference on the Bobcats which made the third quarter not the greatest for the team. It ended with a result of only one three-pointer from the Bobcats in the third quarter from Misskey. This brought the end of the third quarter score to 62-30 for the Cougars!

The Bobcats still had time to bring in some action, although that was not the case. The Cougars kept up their lead, and kept bringing on the full court pressure. Even though the pressure was there, the Bobcats brought it back as well. The Bobcats defense was good and kept the Cougars down to only scoring 10 more points in the last quarter, with an ending score of 72-45 for the Cougars.

Most of the information in this article is from the game first-hand, but some information is from the U of R women’s basketball Instagram page. You can go to https://www.reginacougars.com/sidearmstats/wbball/play-by-play for game stats.