Monday, January 30, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

We managed a split on the weekend losing to Toronto 85-61 and beating Ryerson, 75-72.

Despite the final score, our game against Toronto was actually hotly contested for the first 32 minutes of the game. Toronto opened a four point lead in the first quarter outscoring us 23-19 and continued to add another 4 point cushion by half time, leading 32-24. The third quarter was a back and forth affair, but a quick 5 points in the last 15 seconds of the quarter left us down another 5 as they outscored us 16-11. We actually started the fourth quarter fairly well, narrowing the gap to 8 points before the wheels fell off. Our inability to take care of the basketball (31 turnovers) led to many run-outs by U of T, allowing the spread balloon into the 85-61 final.

Brittany Moore continued her stellar play, dropping 19 hard fought points, including 3-6 from beyond the arc. Christine Wallace added 10 points, while Sydney Kernahan hit double digits with 10 rebounds.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/1/27/WBB_0127123259.aspx?path=wbball

Our game against Ryerson had significant playoff implications as we continue to battle each other for the fourth spot and a home playoff game. We struggled early in the game, unable to stick with their perimeter shooters and not able to find our finishing touch. We trailed 22-11 at the quarter. The second quarter was a complete reversal as we found our range and were able to make stops on defense. We finished the quarter with 24 points, only surrendering 9 to give us a 35-31 half time lead. Nothing was decided in the third as each team put up 15 points. We increased our lead to 6 & 7 points a couple of times in the fourth, only to have Ryerson knock down a 3 to get right back in it. With less than a minute to play they closed the gap to 1, 73-72. Fouling to get the ball back, Christine Wallace calmly hit her two free throws with 2.2 seconds on the clock to seal the win.

Liz Boag had an outstanding game shooting 1 for 1 from the 2 point area and 5 for 5 from 3pt land to tally 17 points. Brittany Moore battled her way to 15 points, primarily on hard slashes to the hoop, while Christine Wallace finished with 14 points and a critical 6 boards.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/1/28/45345343.aspx?path=wbball

Last week Literacy week was being celebrated in the elementary schools in Kingston and over a two-day period, 7 of our players went in to read to fourth graders at Sinclair Public School. It was a huge hit with the students by all accounts.

Last week a press release was sent out indicating the signing of Maria Gill to our program for September. We are thrilled to have Maria, a 6-1 forward, join our program. Please see the Q’s SID report for the entire release: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/1/26/WBB_0126124916.aspx?path=wbball

Up Next in Kingston
Friday, February 3 @ RMC 6pm
Saturday, February 4 vs RMC 6pm

Friday, February 10 vs. Ottawa 6pm
Saturday, February 11 vs. Carleton 6pm (Graduating Athlete Night)

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

Not a particularly enjoyable weekend to write about following one of our worst performances in (not-so) recent memory, losing to Carleton 59-27. Although we played considerably better on Saturday, we still were handled by Ottawa, 71-53.

We were not in the Carleton game from the outset, as they either scored or got an offensive rebound (then scored) on their first 5 possessions. We were out hustled and out muscled. To make matters worse, we were so wound up to play, we couldn’t execute or finish plays when the opportunities presented themselves. We were outscored 19 to 4 in the first quarter and 11-6 in the second quarter, shooting 10% from the floor in the half.

Although we played a reasonable third quarter, outscoring Carleton 15-11, we could not handle their physicality in the fourth enroute to the 59-27 loss. We finished the game shooting 16%.

Liz Boag was the lone bright spot in the game, finishing with 11 points going 3 for 4 from beyond the 3-point line.

SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/1/20/werwerw.aspx?path=wbball

Despite the final score, our game against Ottawa was a much more competitive affair. Adjusting our defensive tactics to counteract their tall front line (3 x 6-1’) and mixture of 3 point shooting or slashing guards, we managed to hold our own for most of the game. We trailed 15-11 after the first.

In the second, Ottawa outscored us another 5 points, primarily on the backs of their superior rebounding. We trailed 37-28 at the half. With a strong third quarter, we managed 13 points to their 11, closing the gap to 7 points heading into the fourth quarter. On two different occasions in the fourth, Ottawa rattled off a quick 6 points, to blow the game open. Ultimately rebounding would be at the crux of the problem as they grabbed 29 offensive boards (we only had 24 rebounds on our hoop). This led to Ottawa taking 86 shots to our 59! Hard to win ball games with that kind of margin.

Christine Wallace finished with 12 points and 5 boards, while Brittany Moore also dropped 12 points.

SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/1/21/WBB_0121125826.aspx?path=wbball

I am sorry to report that good friend and long-time coach at Ryerson, Sandy Pothier, passed away on the weekend after a two-year battle with cancer. She was only 50 years old. The CIS article can be read at: http://english.cis-sic.ca/sports/wbkb/2011-12/releases/20120122-pothier

Our “Shoot for the Cure” fundraising initiative surpassed the $3,000 mark, making it our most successful campaign to date. Thanks again to Enterprise Rent a Car for their generous support of the event and to all those that helped make it successful.

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, January 27 @ Toronto 6pm
Saturday, January 28 @ Ryerson 6pm

Up Next in Kingston:
Friday, February 3 @ RMC 6pm
Saturday, February 4 vs. RMC 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

We managed two wins on the weekend, beating Laurentian 64-51 and York 75-69.
We opened the game well with Laurentian, pushing the pace and grabbing a 21-10 first quarter lead. Our shooting struggled in the second quarter and careless fouls slowed the game considerably. Laurentian outscored us 13-12 in the second. A sloppy third quarter saw Laurentian outscore us 15-12 as we struggled with our perimeter shooting. Heading into the fourth quarter, we held a 7 point lead, 45-38. With a slightly improved 4th quarter shooting, we dropped 19 points to Laurentian’s 13 to finish with a 64-51 win. Overall shooting stats were poor (22% from 3 and 36% from 2).

Brittany Moore had a game high 23 points to go along with 4 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. She was the only player in double figures.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/1/13/ffff.aspx?path=wbball

With the players disappointed about their performance the night before, they came out focused in the York game and opened with a 9-2 run. In that 2 minute span, Christine Wallace hit a 3, hit a 2, grabbed a rebound and had an assist. Following a York timeout, however, York mounted a run of their own to grab an 11-9 lead, before the momentum shifted back to us. We finished the quarter up 20-15. The second quarter was a struggle as we failed to keep the pace of the game to our liking (fast), with many fouls to slow the game down. York outscored us 15-10 to lock the score at 30 going into half time. The second half was another series of runs, this time with us building a lead, only to have York claw their way back. We never did, however, surrender the lead in the second half, winning the third quarter 20-16 and the fourth 25-23. We continued to struggle with our 3-point shooting (26%), but were a little better from the 2-point area (43%). Our rebounding made the biggest difference in the game, outrebounding York, 54-37, along with our bench play, which dropped 32 of our 75 points.

Brittany Moore had 14 points, Jenny Wright 12 and Christine Wallace had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/1/14/werwq.aspx?path=wbball

Saturday also marked our “Shoot for the Cure” Breast Cancer Research Game. A big thank you to Enterprise Rent-a-Car (Queen’s Athletics official sponsor) for their sponsorship of the event, including a $2,000 donation. A number of people accepted my challenge of donating $1 for every point scored in the game (144), and a few others made straight donations at the door. If you would still like to contribute, you can go on-line at: http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?EventID=83201&LangPref=en-CA&TeamID=266763 to donate. Thanks to all!

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, January 20 @ Carleton 6pm
Saturday, January 21 @ Ottawa 6pm

Friday, January 27 @ Toronto 6pm
Saturday, January 28 @ Ryerson 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

A very tough weekend to open up our 2012 league schedule left us with a split – beating Ryerson 74-58 and losing to Toronto 73-63.

Ryerson is a team that can score in bunches, as they have excellent 3-point shooters and slashers, along with a solid post game. The key for us was to tire the opposition and/or force them to go to their bench – which we did quite effectively. We built and 15-12 first quarter lead and grew that lead each quarter, outscoring them 18-16 in the second, 15-9 in the third and 26-21 in the fourth for the 74-58 final.

Brittany Moore finished with a game high 20 points and ties her for 5th place in the OUA all-time scoring leaders. Jenny Wright finished with 12 points and 8 boards. Boards would prove to be key as we took 14 more shots than Ryerson.

Saturday’s game against Toronto was truly a game of runs. Both teams generate a very high percentage of their offense from their defense – and on this day, Toronto’s defense kept us off balance. An evenly matched first quarter saw Toronto carry a 14-12 lead. We came out and dominated the first 7 minutes of the second quarter to grab a 10 point lead, only to put Toronto on the foul line to score 10 straight points in the final 3 minutes of the quarter, to leave the game tied at 31 at half. A relatively high-scoring (23-21) back and forth affair in the third left us with a 2-point lead at the end of 3, 54-52. As much as we only scored 9 points in the fourth, it was our defence that let us down as Toronto continued to break us down and get to the foul line (30 times in the game to our 18). This took away from our ability to transition and therefore had to face a set defense most of the quarter, resulting in the 73-63 loss. Toronto outscored us on the foul line by 10 points.

Britanny Moore dropped 14 points and now sits all alone as the 5th leading all-time scorer in OUA history! Liz Boag and Jenny Wright each chipped in with 11 points.

We are at home again this weekend with games against Laurentian (Friday) and York (Saturday). The York game also marks our “Shoot for the Cure” Breast Cancer game. If you would like to support this initiative, you can visit the web site: http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=266763&langPref=en-CA

Again this year, I will donate $1 for every point scored in the game (both teams) and challenge anyone and everyone to match me.

Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 13 vs. Laurentian 6pm
Saturday, January 14 vs. York 6pm (Shoot for the Cure – Breast Cancer game)

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, January 20 @ Carleton 6pm
Saturday, January 21 @ Ottawa 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

Happy New Year!

We just returned from our training camp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and are now preparing to open up league play this weekend at home against Ryerson and Toronto.

Our trip to Puerto Rico was outstanding. The purpose of the trip was to provide the team with a great environment in which to train and prepare for the second half of our season; play some exhibition games to also help get us back into game shape after a substantial layoff; provide a cultural learning opportunity; and to rest, relax and rejuvenate prior to the winter term. Our players committed to practicing hard each morning, and then had the rest of the day to explore the country, rest and relax. With the help of many parents who made the trip, the players travelled to Old San Juan to discover the rich history and artwork and architecture present in area. They also travelled to the rain forest and tested their balance under a giant waterfall. For New Year’s Eve, our men’s and women’s team “took over” the dance floor at the Marriott Hotel, while ringing in the New Year. The rest of the days were spent on the beach or by the pool side.
The thermometer hit 27 degrees Celsius (with a humidex of 33), and dropped to a low of only 24………….each and every day we were there. It was fantastic.

Our first game (Dec. 29th) was against the University of Puerto Rico at Bayamon – a well-coached team that plays in the NCAA (Div. II). Their head coach was the former U19 Puerto Rican National team assistant coach. The Athletic Director of Bayamon was the head coach of the U19 team. Both of whom I coached against many times in my stints with Canada Basketball – so it was great to catch up with them.

Bayamon was a relatively small team, other than their 6-3 post player. They were quick and ran intricate sets that proved very challenging to defend. None-the-less, despite getting off the plane the afternoon before, we played quite well and shot the ball extremely well. We opened an early lead, eventually building a 15 point first half lead (playing NCAA rules). This gave us the opportunity to work on some other aspects of our game. Bayamon closed the gap by half time to 9, as we led 38-29. The second half was much like the first – we built our lead into double digits and Bayamon would chip away. In the end, our shooting was too much and we held on to win 70-66.

Brittany Moore was outstanding once again, dropping 23 points on 5 of 8 shooting from behind the arc. Jenny Wright continued her fine rookie campaign with a double-double, 14 points and 10 boards. She had a perfect stat line, 3 for 3 from inside the arc, 2 for 2 outside the arc, and 2 for 2 from the foul line.

Our second game (Jan. 2nd) was against Swarthmore College located just outside Philadelphia. They were another smaller team, with a decent post player and some very good outside shooters. Not surprisingly the game went much the same as the first, although our 3-pt. shooting struggled this game. We build a large lead in the first half, again allowing us to work on some other aspects of our game. Swarthmore was very scrappy and could shoot from range, which allowed them to claw back into the game. We led 31-21 at half and finished the game up 56-43. Our 2-pt. shooting was very good at 51.5%, but our 3-pt. shooting faltered at 15.8% (3 of 19).

Paige Robinson had an excellent game at both ends of the floor and finished with 13 points. Brittany Moore grabbed 11 points despite struggling from beyond the arc, while Liz Boag dropped 10.

Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 5 vs. Ryerson 6pm
Saturday, January 6 vs. Toronto 6pm (Telus Community Game – Meet the Gaels after the game)

Friday, January 13 vs. Laurentian 6pm
Saturday, January 14 vs. York 6pm (Shoot for the Cure – Breast Cancer game)

Please check out our Breast Cancer Website to make your donation:
http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=266763&langPref=en-CA

I will throw the gauntlet down and make my annual challenge: I will donate $1 for every point (both teams) scored in the game and challenge anyone else to join me in the cause.

Lastly, I hope you like the look of our new email template. It has been a while in the making and we are very happy with the outcome.

All the best.

Dave.