Monday, October 28, 2013

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

Just one game to report on from the weekend (our last before league play begins), as we were in Montreal for a re-match with UQAM. With a number of players resting nagging injuries in preparation for league play, we only dressed 9 players. The expectation is that we will have a more bountiful roster on Friday when we host Lakehead.

Queen’s 58 - UQAM 64
The first quarter was a relatively high scoring, back and forth affair with UQAM holding a one point lead at the quarter, 15-16. We dominated the second quarter, putting up 23 points to their 9. Our shooting percentage returned to appropriate levels after a dismal weekend last weekend. We shot 42% from the floor, and 40% from the 3pt. line. UQAM came out in the second half with full court pressure that caused us numerous problems. After turning the ball over only 6 times in the first half, we coughed it up 15 times in the second half, many of which led to easy layups for the opposition. We were outscored 22-10 in the third and 17-10 in the fourth as UQAM completed the comeback. Jenny Wright finished with 21 points and 8 boards, while Liz Boag (in her first game back after her ankle injury) dropped 19 points. Abby Dixon added 10 points and 5 boards.

Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 1 vs. Lakehead 6pm
Saturday, November 2 vs. Guelph 6pm

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 8 @ Western 6pm
Saturday, November 9 @ Windsor 6pm

Note: All our home games this season will be web cast live. Please go to www.queensbasketball.net to see the schedule and link.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Queen’s Women’s Basketball team will be participating in the “OneMatch Program”(Stem Cell and Marrow Network) to support a local high school basketball player, Mackenzie, who is in need of a bone marrow transplant.

Mackenzie is a fun loving 16 year old high school student. She enjoys many sports including basketball and hurdles. Her positive energy and cheerful personality have always shone through, both while competing and during everyday activities.

In August, Mackenzie was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and now requires a bone marrow transplant. With no family match, Mackenzie is relying on someone she does not know to be her donor...to be her hero!

By registering with OneMatch, you could be a hero for Mackenzie or one of the other 700+ Canadian patients like her who require a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. It only takes a few minutes to gather a cheek swab. Sites on the Queen’s Campus include:

Tuesday, October 29th
Queen's Centre (ARC) 9am-4pm
Biosciences Atrium 9am-5pm
Victoria Hall 6pm-9pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

Not the results we were looking for this weekend going 1 – 2 with a very close comeback win over York, but two blowout losses to Saskatchewan and Laval. We also sustained a couple of injuries as Meaghan MacDougall went down on Saturday with a knee injury, and Emily Hazlett sustained further injury to her shoulder. Liz Boag missed the entire weekend rehabbing her ankle, but is expected to return to play this coming weekend. We rested Gemma Bullard on Saturday as she continues her journey of rehab, and limited minutes for Nicole Morse all weekend to help protect her knees. Of course, this did provide us the opportunity to provide extended minutes to our healthy players – a practise that will help develop our team’s depth.

Queen’s 33 – Saskatchewan 68
We got off to a very slow start against Saskatchewan, having difficulty with the heavy pressure they exerted on defense. We trailed 6-18 after the first. We settled down and played better defense in the second, ending in a low scoring 10-11 quarter. We struggled the first couple of minutes in the third and trailed by as much as 17 before we started to make a run. By the 3 minute mark we had cut the lead to 9, but that was as close as we would come. Turnovers, from the increased Saskatchewan’s pressure, led to many run outs and lay ups that just would not stop. Combined with the inability to generate good shots, the rout was on. Emily Hazlett led us in scoring, but couldn’t crack double digits with 9 point.
Box Score: http://www.ryersonrams.ca//pdf9/2555097.pdf?SPSID=109841&SPID=13630&DB_OEM_ID=22300


Queen’s 57 – York 53
The first quarter was a back and forth affair until the last 3 minutes when we pulled ahead by 5, 12-7. The second quarter was very different, as our shooting went ice-cold (9% on 2 for 21) and York shot a very solid 8 for 17 (47%) as our defence was unable to contain their ball handlers. York amassed 23 points to our 5, go into half with a 30-17 lead. The third quarter saw both teams find the hoop a little better, compiling 32, of which 18 went up on our side of the board. We had cut the deficit to 9. The fourth quarter was a steady climb for us, as our defence did a much better job of containing their ball handlers, and controlling the boards. We took our first lead with about 3 minutes to go and never relinquished it. Robyn Pearson had a very solid game with 14 points and 10 boards. Abby Dixon added 12 points, 7 boards and 4 assists in her 29 minutes of play.
Box Score: http://www.ryersonrams.ca//pdf9/2555989.pdf?SPSID=109841&SPID=13630&DB_OEM_ID=22300

Queen’s 48 – Laval 78
The first quarter was our best of the game, but still could not overcome Laval’s scoring touch. We trailed 20-17 after one. They went on to dominate the next 3 quarters, 18-6, 19-14, and 21-11. Our shooting percentages stayed below 30% for the third straight game, while Laval’s topped the 50% mark (a combination of great shooting by them, but a lack of defensive execution on our part). Robyn Pearson had another solid outing with 14 points on 2-12 shooting. Jenny Wright, battling a chest cold, managed to drop 13 points to go along with 7 rebounds.
Box Score: http://www.ryersonrams.ca//pdf9/2556485.pdf?SPSID=109841&SPID=13630&DB_OEM_ID=22300

Up Next On the Road:
Friday, October 25 @ UQAM 6pm

Up Next at Home (League openers):
Friday, November 1 vs. Lakehead 6pm
Saturday, November 2 vs. Guelph 6pm

Have a great week.

Dave.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

We enjoyed a very successful Homecoming Weekend……on a number of fronts. We had a great turn out for our Alumni vs. Alumni game, and an even better turnout for our Reception honouring the team members from the 1985-86 to 1989-90 teams. Leslie Aldcorn and Julie Farquahar spoke (and had a slide show presentation) on behalf of those teams, drawing many comparisons between then and now. Certainly there were many differences (how we travelled, uniforms, hair styles), but there were many commonalities as well (toughness, hard work, team work). In addition to Julie & Leslie, on hand to receive a Queen’s Basketball Hoodie was Kim Acres, Teena Bedard, Nancy Coke, Dani Hawkins, and long-time coach, Tim Orpin.

Hosting the Tindall tournament over the weekend, our current team remains undefeated this season, stretching our winning streak to 5 games.

Queen’s 58 - UPEI 50
On Friday, despite a very poor shooting performance, we managed to come from behind and defeat UPEI, 58-50. UPEI got off to a quick start with back to back to back 3 pointers before we knew what had hit us. They went on to score 19 first quarter points to our 15. We closed the gap to 1 by half, 26-27. UPEI opened a 6 point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but showed signs of fatigue as we outscored them 22-8 in the final frame to win 58-50. It was not a very pretty game, shooting less than 30% from the floor, 8% from the 3 and 48% from the foul line. Robyn Pearson led the way with 14 points and 9 boards. Liz Boag added 12 points, while Jenny Wright chipped in with 11. Rookie post, Andrea Priamo hit double digits with 10 boards to go along with her 7 points.

Queen’s 65 – Lethbridge 47
Saturday we faced Lethbridge (complete with former Gael standout, Claire Meadows as the lead assistant coach). While our shooting did not improve, we got off to a better start dropping 19 first quarter points to Lethbridge’s 10. Our defense forced 8 turnovers in the quarter, giving us 7 more shots than our opponent. Lethbridge was able to turn that around, however, in the second quarter outscoring us by 3 to trail 28-20 at the half. Liz Boag went down in that quarter re-injuring the ankle that kept her out of action for 3 weeks last season. Our pressure defense allowed us to dominate the third quarter as we outscored Lethbridge 22-12 to take control of the game. We closed out the fourth 15-13 to finish with the 65-47 win (but still only shooting 33% from the floor). Jenny Wright finished with 15 points, while Gemma Bullard added 11. Rookie post Andrea Priamo finished with 10 points and 8 boards, while Liz Boag put up 10 points in her 13 minutes of play before injury.

Queen’s 75 – Concordia 60
Despite a very poor start to the game, we played our best basketball on Sunday. Concordia came out on fire and looked like they would run away with the game from the outset. Only 4 minutes into the game, they had opened a double digit lead. Following a time out, we began to settle down and managed to close the gap to 4 by the end of the first quarter, 17-21. The second quarter was a much more controlled affair as we pulled to within 3, 30-33. The second half was a very different story for us as we came out with greater intensity, which seem to wear Concordia down. We outscored our opposition 24-17 in the third and 21-10 in the fourth for the 75-60 win. Our shooting percentages moved back to where we would like them, shooting 47% from the floor, 36% from the 3 point line and 93% from the foul line. Jenny Wright led all scorers with 20 points and 5 assists. Rookie point guard Abby Dixon had 12 points and 7 boards, while Gemma Bullard had 11 points for the second straight game. Robyn Pearson also chipped in with 10 points and 5 boards.
New Queen’s Basketball Video
Check out our new basketball video on-line at: www.queensbasketball.net
You can also get the SID game reports from the weekend.

After this week’s practise, we will take a well-deserved break over the Thanksgiving Weekend.

Up Next on the Road:

Ryerson Tournament
Friday, October 18
12noon vs. Saskatchewan

Saturday, October 19
1 or 5pm TBD vs. York or Concordia

Sunday, October 20
TBD

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dave.