Nuttall leads Tigers to victory in home opener
Nuttall and the Tigers used a strong second half to surge past UBC Okanagan 63-43 in their first game of the Subway Centennial Tournament.
The Dalhousie Tigers are 1-0 to start the Subway Centennial Tournamet after a convincing 63-43 victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat Friday night at the Dalplex.
Rebecca Nuttall went 6-10 from the field and had 13 points and nine rebounds to lead the Tigers, while starting guards Courtney Thompson and Robbi Daley combined for 22 points and five assists on the night.
Shanelle Tamminen led the way for the Heat with 14 points, while Jessica Jazdarehee had eight boards.
The Tigers recovered from a sloppy first half and tightened things up defensively in the second quarter, limiting the Heat to just 16 points. They held a huge advantage on the boards, grabbing 56 on the night.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 18-11 lead in the first quarter, playing suffocating defense on the Heat and attacking them with a balanced effort.
Okanagan got out to an early run in the second quarter, as they cut the lead to just one, before the Tigers got on the board to make it 20-17. Shenelle Tamminen was a force inside and had 12 points in the first half and she was having her way in the paint. The Heat were beating the Tigers with baseline drives and caught the Tigers ballwatching with crisp cross-court passes.
The heat defense gave the Tigers fts in the second quarter, forcing them to force lots of bad looks. Head coach Anna Stammberger had had enough and called her second timeout of the quarter with 1:52 left to go as Okanagan capitalized off a turnover to make it a 26-24 game.
In the final minute of the quarter, the Heat put on the full-court press that the Tigers just couldn't handle as they committed three consecutive turnovers, though they held a one-point lead as the teams entered the half with the Tigers up 28-27.
Rebecca Nuttall led the way for the Tigers in the first half with five points and eight boards in the first 20 minutes of play.
In the second half, Emily Kanester sank a layup to give the Heat their first lead of the game as she made it 31-30, but Tigers guard Courtney Thompson helped the Tigers quickly regain the lead with a pair of freethrows. The Tigers tightened up their defense and their shots started dropping as they opened up a 44-35 lead going into the final quarter.
The Tigers poured it on the Heat in the final frame and limited Okanagan to just eight points as they cruised to a 63-43 victory.
The Heat tip off tomorrow night at 6:00pm when they face York, while the Tigers take on Laval directly after at 8:00pm.