WEEKEND RECAP: Top-ranked Ottawa wins two in Toronto

The Gee-Gees women's basketball team, fresh from ascending to the top-rank in the nation earned two wins in Toronto on the weekend. First winning a morning matchup with the Varsity Blues 67-39 on Friday, before edging out the TMU Bold 65-63 in a thriller on Saturday afternoon.

In a dominant win over Toronto, the Gee-Gees overcame a slow start to cruise to victory. The Gee-Gees feasted on 37 Toronto turnovers which they turned into 33 points.

In Emily Payne shone in her return to action from injury, posting 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Allie McCarthy and Victoria Brideau both finished with 13 points, while fifth-year point guard Natsuki Szczokin scored 11 and crossed the 1,000-point mark in her illustrious career.

The following day at TMU, the Gee-Gees were in an all-out battle with the Bold. Both teams were even through most of the game, swapping the lead nine times throughout. No team led by more than six points as the game came down to the wire.

Despite shooting a strong 43.1 percent from the field, Ottawa was hampered by an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers that the Bold took advantage of for 31 points.

Payne and Szczokin led the way with 15 points each, while McCarthy and Brideau had 13 and 10 points apiece to go along with seven and eight rebounds respectively.

UP NEXT:

The Gee-Gees will return to the court on Wednesday night for marquee matchup between two of the nation's top teams as #1 Ottawa takes on #4 Carleton at the Ravens' Nest. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be streaming live on OUA.tv.