Wesmen escape Bobcats’ surge on Giles’ big day

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This article was published 05/12/2022 (751 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It took an all-time great individual effort for one of the top teams in the country to beat the Brandon University Bobcats.

If not for Kyanna Giles tying a University of Winnipeg women’s basketball record 43 points after a seemingly serious head injury — based on her reaction in the moment — the No. 5-ranked Wesmen were in for a bigger scare than an 84-62 win at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday.

Piper Ingalls dropped a career-high 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting and a terrific 60 per cent from three-point range. Her offence pushed Brandon to two lead changes, including one nearly 25 minutes into the game.

“I started off pretty strong so I was pretty confident after that,” Ingalls said.

“I feel like we really pushed the tempo and they’re a great team but I feel like we challenged them a bit so that was nice.”

Giles went 16-for-34 from the field and made eight of 14 free throws while everyone else on the floor took just 12 shots from the charity stripe. The fifth-year guard may have overshadowed the second-year Ingalls, who still made quite the statement with an efficient offensive night.

“Piper always had it in her physically. It’s really she’s improved her mental game so much, even since high school because I played with her all through high school,” said BU forward Eden Tabin.

“She doesn’t get as down on herself now, she doesn’t have many lows and highs, she just stays neutral and honestly I think it’s attributed to her growing up and maturing as a basketball player. I’m so incredibly proud of her on all levels.”

The Moose Jaw, Sask., native joined the Bobcats in 2019 and redshirted her first year. After the 2020-21 season was cancelled due to COVID-19, the five-foot-three guard debuted in 2021 and is a regular starter now. Ingalls said those two years to grow helped a ton, as has coach James Bambury over the past season-and-a-half.

She’s leading the Bobcats this year with 12.8 points per game and shooting 36 per cent from three.

If not for a red-hot Wesmen start, it might have been enough for an upset.

Giles got Winnipeg going with eight points on its first three possessions.

The Bobcats (0-10) answered with a seven-point spurt before the Wesmen (7-1) raced away to another big first-quarter lead.

Brandon did well against Winnipeg’s full-court press, turning the ball over just three times. The Bobcats rushed shots early but settled in as Josie Grift scored five quick points and Faith Clearsky added a three to trail 29-18 after 10 minutes.

Ingalls sparked BU’s best stretch of the season to start the second. She hit a three, then outworked former NCAA Division I guard Raizel Guinto to the hoop for two. Reetta Tulkki nailed a three, Ingalls picked off a pass and scored, then Chelsea Misskey got a steal and BU pinged the ball around until Tulkki found a wide-open Tabin under the hoop to lead 30-29 just 2:40 into the quarter.

“I would love to feel that feeling for the rest of my life,” Tabin said. “The slaps hurt a bit from the teammates but it’s so much fun coming into a timeout right after you score something like that, it’s everybody on you all the time and it’s the best feeling in the world.”

In the meantime, Giles hit the back of her head on the floor and stayed down for 20 seconds, wailing and writhing before being helped off. She returned mere minutes later.

The Wesmen clamped down after that but the Bobcats still knocked down a few timely shots to go into halftime down 43-38.

Ingalls hit two threes to put Brandon up 50-47 midway through the third quarter. The Wesmen replied with an 18-3 run as their press finally broke the Bobcats. BU had just six turnovers in the first half, then five in the third quarter.

Ingalls snapped the streak with another triple in the dying seconds as Winnipeg went into the fourth up 65-56.

BU kept it within 10 points with four minutes to go, and then Winnipeg closed it out on a 12-0 run. Giles accounted for 10 of the 12 to pad her stat line past 40 points.

After a 37-point blowout in Winnipeg two days earlier, it was a big step forward for Brandon.

“It was just team defence. We just played together and that was all it took,” Ingalls said.

“It’s pretty exciting. I feel like if we play like this all year we can compete with anyone in Canada West.”

“We had a different mentality going into it,” Tabin added. “We weren’t focused as much on them. We were really focused on what we could do … our controllables, our talking, hands up, everything that we’ve practised.

“… It felt right. It felt like everything was falling into place. Everybody’s hands were up. We had so much energy. It was a new type of Bobcats. I loved it.”

Brandon returns to action on Jan. 6-7 when they host UBC (5-3).

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