Team first for Brock Badgers women’s basketball squad in St. Catharines

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Published February 22, 2022 at 5:35 pm

St. Catharines native Samantha Keltos, left, is the leading scorer for the Brock Badgers, who are now No. 1 in the U SPORTS women's basketball national ranking. (U SPORTS photo)

Led by St. Catharines’ own senior shooting sensation Samantha Keltos and helped by homegrown rookie Madalyn Weinert, the Brock Badgers women’s basketball team has attained new heights in national prestige.

For the first time in team history, the Badgers are the No. 1-ranked team in the country, topping the U SPORTS ranking that was released on Tuesday. The Badgers are 12-2 overall against university teams this season, and are 10-0 in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) league play. The undefeated run in league play owes greatly to team defence; Brock’s 53.2 points allowed per game is the second-fewest U SPORTS.

The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled all university sport in Canada in 2020-21, and has led to postponements and cancellations this season. Brock is aiming for a repeat trip to the women’s Final 8, which will be hosted by the Queen’s Gaels in Kingston from March 31 to April 3. In 2020, just before COVID-19, the Badgers were the national silver medallists.

Last Saturday, Keltos scored a team-most 17 points and fellow fifth-year forward Mackenzie Robinson hooped 16 and snared seven rebounds during a 72-53 win over the rival McMaster Marauders. That performance bumped coach Mike Rao’s Badgers into the top spot, ahead of the No. 2 Saskatchewan Huskies, No. 3 Prince Edward Island Panthers, No. 4 Winnipeg Wesmen and No. 5 Rams, who represent a downtown Toronto university.

Keltos is fourth in OUA scoring (16.0 per game) and sixth in rebounding (9.5), and is also the league’s lethalest long-range shooter, making 47.7 per cent of her triple attempts. Robinson is sixth in OUA in assists (3.7), while she and guard Ivana Twamasi are also consistent double-figure scorers. Weinert, a first-year guard who grew her game at Eden High in St. Catharines, is also chipping in 9.1 points per game.

Four of the Badgers’ five remaining regular-season games are at home at Bob Davis Gymnasium in St. Catharines. The home stretch starts Wednesday (Feb. 23) at 6 p.m. against the Waterloo Warriors.

The men’s basketball Badgers are also ranked No. 4 nationally, on the strength of a 13-1 overall record that includes a 9-1 mark in OUA play. The Carleton Ravens, whose court leader Lloyd Pandi has played with the Niagara River Lions of the CEBL, are ranked No. 1. Carleton has won 15 of the last 18 men’s national titles.

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