Monday, November 26, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

Another weekend on the road left us with another split – losing to Brock 53-49, before beating McMaster, 80-67.

We started very slowly against Brock, unable to convert on many of the opportunities presented. We trailed 9-16 after the first. We tightened our defense in the second quarter, which also lead to a little more offense, outscoring Brock 16-4 to take a 25-20 lead into the half. We built on our lead early in the third quarter only to have Brock come back and tie the game at 37 heading into the fourth. We really struggled with our finishing in the fourth and gave up a few offensive rebounds, leading to the 53-49 final. There were many errors in the statistics-keeping for this game, but as best as I can figure, Liz Boag was high scorer with 13 points and our only player to reach double figures.

Q’s SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/11/23/WBBvsBrock.aspx?path=wbball

Our start against McMaster was not much better than the night before. We found ourselves trailing 11-3 before we started to find some rhythm. We finished the quarter on a 20-4 run for a 23-15 lead. Mac came out strong in the second, shooting the ball very well and pressuring in the full court. By half, they had cut our lead to 2, 37-35. We opened the third quarter on a tear, enroute to a 31 point quarter, while surrendering 13 to lead 68-48. Defensive pressure was our key, forcing a number of turnovers and allowing us to score in transition. Mac kept battling in the fourth quarter, but could come no closer than the 13 point spread, representing the final score, 80-67. Four players hit double digits in scoring with Sydney Kernahan leading the way with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Liz Boag added 13 points and 6 assists, while Gemma Bullard & Jenny Wright each had 11 points.

Q’s SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/11/24/WBB_1124121649.aspx?path=wbball

We have a tough weekend upcoming as we host Windsor (#1 in the country) on Friday and Western on Saturday. It will be good to be back at home, however. This will finish off our fall league schedule. We will pick things up after Christmas when we head down to Puerto Rico for a training camp and a couple of exhibition games.

Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 30 vs. Windsor 6pm
Saturday, December 1 vs. Western 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

A tough road trip weekend, sent us to Thunder Bay, where we defeated Lakehead (in overtime), 67-63, but fell to Guelph, 71-62.

We got off to a good start against Lakehead, playing some of our best defence of the year. We led after the first quarter 15-8. We continued some solid offensive play in the second, outscoring Lakehead 17-12 to take a 32-20 lead into half time. The second half saw Lakehead increase their full court pressure leading to many turnovers by us and run-outs by Lakehead. They outscored us 18-15 in the third and 21-12 in the fourth. They actually took the lead late in the fourth quarter, before a buzzer beater jump shot from the top of the key by Robyn Pearson sent the game into overtime tied at 59. Aggressively attacking their pressure in the overtime saw us score 6 of our 8 overtime points from the foul line to seal the hard fought victory. Gemma Bullard led the way with 16 points (and 6 boards), while three other players added 12 points. Liz Boag, Jenny Wright and Robyn Pearson all had a dozen. Boag added 5 assists, Wright 9 rebounds, and Pearson a double-double with 11 boards. On the negative side, third year guard, Meaghan MacDougall went down early in the game with what appears to be a serious knee injury.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/11/16/WBB_Lakehead.aspx?path=wbball

On Saturday we faced Guelph for the second time this season (played them in our Tindall Tournament in October). We started the game well getting the ball to the rim fairly effectively, racking up 19 points to their 13. That would be the last quarter we would win, however. Guelph struggled with their shooting early on, but it got better in each quarter of the game. They outscored us 15-13 in the second. They opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run (which also saw us turn the ball over 5 consecutive times), grabbing the lead that they would never relinquish. Our defense seemed to lose focus, and our offensive execution was miserable – missing open looks in our offense repeatedly. We were outscored 20-16 in the third and 23-14 in the fourth to lose, 71-62. Liz Boag finished with 14 points, while Jenny Wright had 11 (and 11 boards) and Sydney Kernahan had 10.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/11/17/WBB_Guelph.aspx?path=wbball

Overall, there is no question our young team is improving at a significant pace. Still lots of improvement to make (always), but I like where we are headed and how hard we are working on a daily basis.

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 23 @ Brock 6pm
Saturday, November 24 @ McMaster 6pm

Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 30 vs. Windsor 6pm
Saturday, December 1 vs. Western 6pm

REMINDER: Q’s ID/Training Camp – Sunday, December 9th
9:30-12:00n On-Court
12:00-1:30pm Lunch Break
12:15-1:30 Facility Tour and Q/A session
1:30-3:30pm On-Court
No cost – please email James Bambury (qwbball2@queensu.ca) so we can prepare for the numbers.

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

League play began on the weekend with a loss to Laurier, 68-64 and a win over Waterloo, 92-70.
Laurier came into the game ranked #9 in the country, having confidence from a 6-1 pre-season. The first seven minutes of the game was a back and forth affair with the lead changing or score tied 5 times. Laurier pulled away in the last 3 minutes building their largest lead (6) to end the quarter up, 21-15.
After extending the lead to 8, we started to chip away reducing their advantage to 1 (28-27) with 3 minutes to go in the half and grabbed a 1 point lead with just under 2 minutes to go. Laurier scored back to back buckets with less than a minute to play to go into the locker room with a 32-29 advantage.
The close battle continued in the second half as we outscored Laurier 18-15 to tie the game at 37. Laurier regained a 6 point lead with 2 minutes to go, but we continued to battle to get it to a one possession game with 12 seconds remaining, 67-64. Forced to foul, Laurier made one of two to finish with the 68-64 win.
Liz Boag & Gemma Bullard each finished with 16 points (Liz 4 assists & Gemma 9 boards). Jenny Wright chipped in with 12 points, while Sydney Kernahan had 10 points and 9 boards.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/11/9/WBB_1109121545.aspx?path=wbball

Our Sunday matchup with Waterloo saw us come out of the locker room very flat. We did not score a field goal within the first 5 minutes of the game and found ourselves trailing 11-1. Our defense picked up, spurring our offense and finished the quarter with a 24-0 run to lead 25-11. Our defensive execution began to waiver in the second quarter as we surrendered 20 points, but managed to keep pace with 20 of our own. We opened the third quarter well, building a 20 point lead, but were unable to sustain it. We finished the quarter with 23 points to Waterloo’s 19. Again we crested the 20 point lead mark in the fourth, only to have Waterloo claw back. They outscored us 24-20 in the fourth, ending in the 92-70 score.
Sydney Kernahan had a monster game with a career high 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds (8-10 from the floor and 4-4 from the line). Liz Boag had 14 points and 8 assists, while Jenny Wright had 12 points and Robyn Pearson potted 10 points and 5 boards.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/11/11/WBB_1111125923.aspx?path=wbball

While I was pleased with our scoring output – we shot over 52% from the floor, 39% from the 3 and 78% from the foul line -- surrendering 70 points is a concern.

REMINDER: Q’s ID/Training Camp – Sunday, December 9th
9:30-12:00n On-Court
12:00-1:30pm Lunch Break
12:15-1:30 Facility Tour and Q/A session
1:30-3:30pm On-Court
No cost – please email James Bambury (qwbball2@queensu.ca) so we can prepare for the numbers.

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 16 @ Lakehead 6pm
Saturday, November 17 @ Guelph 6pm

Friday, November 23 @ Brock 6pm
Saturday, November 24 @ McMaster 6pm

Have a great week.

Dave.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

A couple of games in upper New York state, left us with a couple of wins as we head toward the regular season. On Friday we defeated Oswego State in a low scoring affair, 49-29, and Saturday we won a close battle with William Smith College, 57-54.

Friday’s game seemed a little like slow motion as we adjusted to a 30 second shot clock (instead of 24 sec.). While 6 seconds doesn’t sound like much, it really did seem to draw on at times – possibly because we forced Oswego into numerous shot clock violations (extending the full 30 seconds). We only took 55 shots in the whole game, easily down 10-15 shots from most games. While not scoring a lot, our defence was quite effective, allowing only 9 first half points, while scoring 21. The second half was much more competitive, registering a 28-20 advantage. All 12 players scored, with no one player playing more than 22 minutes. Liz Boag finished with 8 points, while Meaghan MacDougall chipped in with 7. Robyn Pearson grabbed a game high 8 boards, while Hanna Koposhynska added 7 boards and 6 points in her first game in 3 weeks after recovering from a knee injury.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/11/2/WBB_1102124418.aspx?path=wbball

Saturday’s game against William Smith was a much faster-paced game allowing us to put up 79 shots (compared to 55 the night before). Our problem, however, was our lack of accuracy, connecting on only 20 of those 79 (25.3%). William Smith had a good mix of quick, outside players (with 3-point capability) and big inside players that could muscle the ball to the hoop. In a back and forth affair where neither team had more than a 5 point lead, the score was tied 6 times and the lead changed 9 times in the opening half which, fittingly ended in a 28 all tie. Nine seconds into the second half, Gemma Bullard hit a 3-pointer (as she did in the opening half) that gave us a lead that we never relinquished. We built our largest lead, 53-43 with less than 4 minutes to play only to have William Smith run off 8 straight points to close to within 2 with 1:24 remaining. That was as close as they would get as we moved on to the 57-54 final. Gemma Bullard finished with 12 points, while Sydney Kernahan finished with a double-double, 12 points and 13 rebounds. Robyn Pearson had another solid performance almost recording a double-double of her own, 9 points and 11 boards.

Q’s SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/11/2/WBB_1102124418.aspx?path=wbball

In other news, I am very pleased to announce that the former Physical Education Centre (PEC) will be re-opening (partially) within the next couple of months. Coming back on-line will be the 3 gymnasiums. This will almost double our current court space, allowing for more time and alleviating some of the pressures on the current facilities.

Our pre-season is now finished with a 7-4 overall record. League play begins this Friday (November 9th). As with past years, our league schedule usually has back to back games (Fri/Sat), but with RMC out of the league, we become the “single” school. In other words, we will continue to play 2 games each weekend, while our opponents will only be preparing and playing against us. While it is a significant competitive disadvantage, we have faced it several times before and been successful (prior to RMC joining the CIS). It will alter our usual pattern of games on occasion, including this weekend.

Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 9 vs. Wilfrid Laurier 6pm
Sunday, November 11 vs. Waterloo 1pm

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 16 @ Lakehead 6pm
Saturday, November 17 @ Guelph 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report (Oct. 22nd repost)

Hi Folks,

A reasonably successful weekend as we hosted the Tindall Tournament involving Trinity Western, Guelph, and the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM). Guelph won the tournament posting a perfect 3-0 record, while we finished second at 2-1. UQAM went 1-2, while Trinity finished 0-3.

We opened with Trinity Western, a team with whom we had a size advantage, but were challenged by their quickness and pressure. In the early going their pressure caused significant havoc with our ball control, leading to a number of turnovers or poor shots. As the game moved on, we began to settle and gain better control. We trailed 17-13 after the first quarter and got two of those back in the second, 12-10 to finish the half down 27-25. Our defense intensified significantly in the third quarter allowing us to run out on Trinity winning the quarter 18-7. We kept the pace up in the fourth outscoring our opponent 20-13, to finish with the 63-47 win. I was pleased with our defensive effort in the second half and our ability to run on a running team. Rachael Urosevic set the pace with 18 points all from beyond the 3 point line (a perfect 6 for 6). Liz Boag added 11 points, while Sydney Kernahan had 8 boards and Robyn Pearson 7.

SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/10/19/WBB_1019121023.aspx?path=wbball

Our second game was a loss to OUA rival Guelph, 72-66. Guelph is a fast, deep team that likes to run and took advantage of us from the opening tip. They built a 19-10 first quarter lead and extended that to 38-26 by half. We had a good start to the second half, cutting the 12 point deficit in half in the first 3 minutes. We outscored Guelph 20-11 to trail by 3 after 3 quarters. Guelph opened the fourth quarter with a run of their own to restore a double-digit lead. We managed to get as close as 4 late in the quarter, but no closer. Foul shots sealed the 6 point win for the Gryphons. Liz Boag finished with 14 points and 7 assists, while Sydney Kernahan had 10 points and 7 boards.

SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/10/20/WBB_1020125550.aspx?path=wbball

Our final game against UQAM would determine second place in the tourney, as Guelph had already defeated Trinity to finish 3-0. In what was the most contested game of the weekend, we managed to finish on top 63-62. In a reversal from our previous two games, we managed to come out strong from the opening tip and grab a 17-9 first quarter advantage. UQAM got two of those points back in the second (15-13) to leave us with a 30-24 half time lead. The third quarter was knotted at 19, setting up a nail-biting fourth quarter. UQAM’s pressure increased, including their presence in the boards, leading to their first lead of the game 51-49. From there, the lead would change another 9 times before the final buzzer. Their last lead came on a 3pt. shot from the top of the key with 4 seconds left, giving them a 62-61 advantage. Following a time out (which also advances the inbound throw to the front court), we ran a play which drew a foul with 1.6 seconds left. Gemma Bullard calmly drained the two free throws to record the win and finish with 12 points and 6 boards. Liz Boag had 17 points, along with 5 assists and was named a tournament All-Star. Jenny Wright hit double digits with 11 points and 4 boards.

SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/10/21/WBB_1021125325.aspx?path=wbball

In other news, I am pleased announce that Nicole Morse (1st year Science) has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious Catherine Gertrude (Milliken) Smith Memorial Award.

Established in March 2007 by Sherwood H. Smith, Jr. of Raleigh, North Carolina in memory of his mother Catherine Gertrude (Milliken) Smith, B.A. 1924, who, while attending Queen's, played for and managed the varsity women's basketball team. Awarded to recognize academic achievement and athletic excellence to student-athletes entering the first year of a direct-entry undergraduate degree program at Queen's University and who is on the competition roster of the Gaels interuniversity women's basketball team.

The date for our annual Winter ID/Training Camp has pushed back a week and will occur on Sunday, December 9, 2012.

The Winter ID/Training Camp is designed for serious basketball players in Grades 10-12, who are interested in Queen’s and would like to get a feel for basketball at the university level.
On-court: 9:30-11:45 a.m.
Break for Lunch (on own): 11:45 a.m.
Facility Tour: 12:15 p.m.*
Q&A: 1 p.m.*
On-court: 1:30-3:30 p.m.

*parents are welcome to join in

There is no cost for the day – please email Coach James Bambury (qwbball2@queensu.ca) so we can prepare for the numbers.

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, October 26th @ McGill 6pm
Saturday, October 27th @ Montmorency (CEGEP) 2pm

Friday, November 2 @ Oswego State 6pm
Saturday, November 3 @ William Smith College 5pm

Have a great week!

Dave.