TORONTO— The No. 9-ranked Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's basketball team won against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at the Metro Hoops Classic on Wednesday night. The Toronto-based rivals went head-to-head for the second half of the Metro Hoops series with the Bold coming out on top, 51-33.

TMU's Hailey Franco DeRyck recorded a double-double, contributing 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bold to the victory. 

"Since we have a couple of our main scorers out I wanted to make it a goal of mine to kind of fill their shoes and just be more aggressive offensively," said Franco DeRyck reflecting on her play.

The first quarter started a bit slow for the Bold as they struggled to get through the Varsity Blues defence. Kaillie Hall made a point of drawing fouls to generate points from the free-throw line. 

At the end of the first quarter, with a buzzer beater three-pointer, Magdalena Vukojev secured the lead for the Bold, 9-8.

"Maggie came in today ready to shoot. Made a shot that kind of got us going a little bit to end the first quarter. It was great that she was ready for that opportunity," said coach Carly Clarke on the first-year's offensive efforts.

In the second quarter, the Bold began to pull away from Toronto. Using their ball movement to find open looks, Jayme Foreman and Hall found space beyond the arc, trusting in their shots to add points.

"They just had a good defensive game plan, really packing the tank sagging off us. We just talked about some ways to try and move their defence a little bit more," said Coach Clarke on their adjustments to tackle University of Toronto's defence.

Jessica Keripe also found space under the rim, going up tough.

"Jess has been tremendous, a huge force defensively and dynamic on offense," said coach Clarke.

The Bold's offensive push propelled them to a 13-point lead at the end of the first-half, 25-12. TMU outscored the Varsity Blues 16-4 in the second quarter.

Beginning the second half, the Varsity Blues' pressure shook up the Bold's offence once again. Struggling to produce shots in offensive play and using their pressure to her advantage, Hall consistently drew fouls and ended the game with 18 points. 

Foreman kept the confidence in her shot from the first-half, ending the game with eight points.

Maintaining their lead the Bold closed the third up 37-19.

Fueled by the crowd's energy, the Bold kept their momentum going in the fourth quarter. Franco DeRyck used her physicality, attacking the rim and scoring key points.

"Lots of fans here tonight which was lovely to see, I wasn't expecting that. It feels nice to win on home court," said Franco DeRyck.

The Bold finished with an assertive win, 51-33, to secure their victory against their cross-city rivals.

Reflecting on the Metro Hoops Classic victory Coach Clarke said, "I think we always take pride in, you know, winning the city, so whenever we play against Toronto or York we want to try and get those wins."

The Bold will kick February off by hosting the McMaster Marauders on Saturday, Feb. 1. 

Game time is set for 6 p.m. at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Come and support the Bold at the Mac. Students get in free with their OneCard.