The Université Laval Rouge et Or and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees tipped-off this afternoon at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre for the first women’s basketball national quarterfinal. While both teams fought hard, Ottawa came out on top in a thrilling 71–67 overtime victory, winning a seat in the national semifinals.
The last time these teams made it to the U Sports championships was in 2019, where Laval won silver and Ottawa won bronze.
“It's our first time, every single one of us here, and I think it just shows how we can come together as a team in overtime,” Ottawa’s Emily Payne said in an interview. “We have composure and we have the skill to do it and the belief in ourselves, so I think it's really important going forward.”
Both Payne and Brinly Holt of the Rouge et Or led their teams offensively with 22 points and despite their well-fought game, Laval had 20 turnovers, which the Gee-Gees capitalized on, generating 22 points from turnovers alone.
The Gee-Gees won the tip-off, scoring the opening baskets. While both teams were settling into the game, Laval got lots of looks, yet were unable to finish five unique opportunities. Finally, Rosemarie Dumont secured Laval's first basket, making the score 4–2.
Ottawa led the first quarter offensively and clung onto their slim lead until Florence Fortin of Laval tied it up on a free throw with just over two minutes left, making the score 17–17 to end the first quarter.
Rouge et Or snagged their first lead early in the second quarter, but Ottawa didn’t let it last for long. Out of the 11 lead changes, 8 of them occurred in the stressful second quarter, but the Gee-Gees managed to end the first half with a 40–38 lead.
Rouge et Or opened the scoring in the second half with Léa-Sophie Verret’s three-point jump shot, for a 1-point lead, but Payne answered with a jump shot of her own, to make the score 42–41.
Ottawa started to lack momentum, as both teams continued to trade leads and Laval managed to widen the gap just over half way through the third quarter with a 5-point lead, 49–44.
In the last quarter, Rouge et Or extended their lead to nine. Natsuki Szczokin and Allie McCarthy answered with three-pointers, decreasing Laval’s lead. The Gee-Gees chased down Laval to tie it in the final moments at 63–63 and the teams headed to overtime.
In overtime, Ottawa stepped it up and Szczokin drew a foul and scored on a free throw, her third of 8 free throws this game, making the score 69–65. Despite Laval’s Élodie Lajoie scoring two free baskets and bringing the score up to 69–67, they couldn’t surpass the Gee-Gees after a free throw from McCarthy for the 71–67 win.
Laval put up a good fight, with 39 of their points from three-point shots.
“Allowing them to shoot that many threes hurt us, but this is our playing style on the offensive side, we're averaging 70 points a game and we were able to attain that,” said Gee-Gees head coach Rose-Anne Joly.
Ottawa will play in the national semifinals Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre against the Carleton Ravens.
This article is part of our 2025 Final 8 coverage. Follow us at @UbysseySports on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, as well as @theubyssey on TikTok, to follow our U Sports basketball coverage starting March 12.
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