TORONTO — The No. 3 nationally-ranked Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold defeated the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon, 81-61, in the quarterfinal of the OUA playoffs.

The win advances the Bold to the OUA semifinal, where they'll face the winner of Saturday night's matchup between the Windsor Lancers and the Brock Badgers.

Both TMU and Western are known for their defensive abilities: they both entered the game ranked either first or second in the province in turnovers forced per game, steals per game, and blocks per game. The Bold are second-ranked in points allowed per game at just 56.4.

With both sides matching up evenly on the defensive end, the result of the game came down to which team could produce more on offence. 

The Mustangs operated in their program's patented zone defence — the same one that handed the Bold one of their two regular-season losses back in January, 90-88.

TMU came back in February fully prepared, though, and picked apart the tricky zone.

The Bold ran the ball through the middle of the zone, kicking it out for open jumpers and making aggressive attacks at the rim. The increased ball movement led to 23 assists, the most in TMU's postseason history.

"We had a few days to prep, which was helpful," explained Bold Head Coach Carly Clarke, "we had seen it once, so we had an idea of where some of the gaps were."

"Overall, just our willingness to share and move the ball," she added when asked about the difference between the loss in January and the postseason victory, "we played with great spacing and found some great shots."

The two biggest beneficiaries from the successful strategy were guards Myriam Kone and Catrina Garvey. Kone finished with team-highs of 24 points and seven assists, and Garvey notched 23 points, all of which were scored in the first three quarters.

Garvey's three-point shooting ability pulled the Mustangs defenders farther away from the rim, which opened up some mid-range shots and fancy floaters around the basket. Her scoring helped TMU maintain a 10-point lead for the first three quarters, which they expanded in the fourth for an eventual 20-point win.

"A majority of the time, teams try to run me off the line, which I'm fine with because I love my mid-range and my pull-up," explained Garvey, "reading that, how they are on the closeout, if I have the three or if I can take it and attack."

"[Garvey] made a bunch of shots — some timely ones for us," praised Clarke, "she's such a threat out there if you're going to give her that much space…and then Myriam was so dynamic, and allowed us to play with a ton of pace."

Despite her own impressive scoring performance, Garvey credited the team's forwards for the success against the zone:

"Our bigs are our foundation, and we've been practicing this the whole week…we get it into our bigs, and they're really the source of our determination. And once we get it there, [the offence] connects and flows."

Also helping to facilitate Garvey and Kone's open shots in the match was guard Kait Nichols, who returned from injury in the matchup for the first time since January 23.

The fourth-year didn't play in the Bold's previous loss against the Mustangs, and her impact was immediately felt on both ends. She logged six points, five rebounds, four assists, and a tied-for-largest in TMU postseason history six steals. 

"The injury is good," updated Nichols after the game, "it felt great being back out there with them. It felt like I didn't miss anything, because I always feel so connected off the court. While I was injured, I was so integrated."

By forcing Western turnovers and initiating the Bold's fast-break offence, as well as operating within the centre of the zone to find open teammates, Nichols' presence was felt in nearly every possession of the match.

"Huge, especially against a zone, right?" responded Clarke when asked about Nichols' impact, "her ability to pass and connect people is so unique, and she was pivotal out there today."

"I just try to read the [offence]," explained Nichols, "I try not to gamble too much because then it can hurt the team…it's also my team, because they're there if I do cheat, so they have my back."

With Nichols back in the team's rotation for the remainder of the playoffs, the Bold as the No. 2 seed in the OUA, are set to be serious contenders for the Critelli Cup.

TMU's semifinal matchup against either the Badgers or Lancers will go down on Wednesday, February 25 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. The Bold's rowdy home crowd was an advantage in the win on Saturday, and will likely be once again on Wednesday night:

"We love it when it's packed in here," said Clarke after the game, "I think we really take pride in protecting home court and competing at a high level, so our fans are proud of us. We felt their energy tonight, and I think it helped push us over the top. We'll see them here again on Wednesday."

Students can enter the game on Wednesday for free with their OneCards.