A shaky third quarter put a halt to the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's basketball squad's winning ways on Saturday as the first-place side fell to the Western Mustangs by a score of 64-54.
The Bold entered the second half of Saturday's contest trailing the Mustangs by a pair of points following a series of scrappy quarters to stay within striking distance.
Surrendering eight free throws and watching Western land seven of their attempts in the third quarter, the Bold quickly fell behind their opposition and never quite regained their footing the rest of the game.
A 9-0 run highlighted the Mustang's dominance out of the break with Emily Capretta picking up four of her eventual 12 points during Western's hottest stretch of the night. MacKeely Shantz led her side with 21 points and finished just three rebounds shy of a double-double performance.
TMU's
Catrina Garvey put up a team-leading 16 points in the defeat following her season-high performance on Friday.
Kaillie Hall added 13 points, while
Hailey Franco-DeRyck chipped in a season-high 16 rebounds and four assists.
Free throws ultimately made the difference between another Bold victory and a second loss since returning from the winter break. TMU sent their opposition to the line 17 times over the course of the game and saw nearly 83% of Western's shots sink into the net.
The Bold trailed the Mustangs by 15 midway through the fourth after conceding 29 points coming out of halftime. It truly was the tale of two halves in the Bold's defeat on Saturday, a group that appeared to be clicking offensively through the opening two quarters of play before catching a snag.
TMU will look to rebound from a bumpy road trip next Friday when they take on the Queen's Gaels at home. Tip off in Friday's contest is set for 6:00 p.m
