TORONTO- Liz Boag was perfect from beyond the arc, sinking five three-pointers and finishing with a team-high 17 points as the Queen's Gaels overcame a disastrous first quarter to steal a 75-72 victory over the Ryerson Rams women's basketball team on Saturday night at Kerr Hall Gym.

BOXSCORE

Kelsey Wright tallied a game-high 22 points while Angela Tilk (Welland, Ont.) recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season.

The Rams (8-9) drop to fifth in the OUA East division, as Queen's (8-8) move into fourth place and now hold the head-to-head tie-breaker, as they swept the season series between the squads 2-0.

A frustrated Charles Kissi explained how the game got away from the women after a strong start.

"We put ourselves in that position," he said. "We gave up a couple of three's to (Boag) and (Moore) and they made shots. We left people open. We have to take care of business. I'm happy with the effort, but we made a couple of mistakes down the stretch."

Wright (Brampton, Ont.) was lights out in the opening quarter, dropping 11 points to give the Rams a 22-11 lead after 10 minutes of play.

Queen's tried to make up the deficit early in the second, as a lay-up by Jenny Wright brought Queen's within two. The Gaels went on a 12-2 run through the first five minutes of the second, and a reverse lay-up by Brittany Moore brought the visitors within one.

Silvana Jez (Kitchener, Ont.) dropped a three-pointer, but Meaghan MacDougall's lay-up after an offensive board kept Queen's within two. Lisa Minutillo nailed another three, as the Gaels continued to threaten the Rams advantage.

Jenna Wright and Minutillo exchanged three's as Queen's overtook Ryerson and stormed into halftime with a 35-31 lead, outscoring the Rams 24-10 in the second period.

The Gaels shot 52% from the field, compared to 34% for the Rams, and they out- rebounded the women 17-15 in the half.

Boag hit another jumper from beyond the arc to open the second half, and Wright answered on a deep shot from the corner, her first points since her hot streak in the first quarter. Ashley Macdonald (Port Colborne, Ont.) sunk her first field goal after that, as Ryerson pulled to within three.

Another basket from the fifth-year veteran cut the lead to a single point with 3:40 to go in the third, and Chloe Mago (Scarborough, Ont.) gave Ryerson a brief lead on a baseline penetration and finishing with a lay-up.

However Wright and Moore restored Queen's lead with back-to-back jumpers. Rachael Urosevic sank a three-pointer from the corner late in the period, and Moore tallied two free-throws to give the Gaels a 50-46 lead heading into the final quarter.

Boag began the fourth the same way she started the third, sinking a jumper from beyond the arc to quickly extend her team's league. The teams continued to trade three- pointers, but Queen's was able to move up by five.

However, Ryerson fought back, and Tilk made it a two-point contest with a lay-up. Wright hit a jumper to even the game at 58-58 soon after.

Christine Wallace put the visitors ahead, and Boag hit another three to spread the lead to six with just over two minutes left in regulation, and after another three by Moore, the Rams took a timeout.

Wright nailed a three coming out of the break to make it a one-possession game. After a missed three by MacDonald, Alexandrea Tkaczyk was put on the foul-line. The Cambridge, Ont. native would miss on both attempts, but Dayana Gechkova (Sofia, Bulgaria) picked up a board and sunk a lay-up with 2.2 seconds left in the game to bring the Gaels' lead down to one.

However, the Gaels would hit both their free throws to clinch their eighth win of the season and move back to the .500 mark.

Kissi stated that the next couple of games heading into the post-season are still part of the journey to continue getting better as a team.

"If we can play well and make (fewer) mistakes (then) we are playoff ready," he said.

The women will host the downtown rival Toronto Varsity Blues next Friday night at Kerr Hall Gym and round out their home schedule on February 10 and 11 against York and Laurentian.