Monday, January 27, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

We knew heading into Ottawa we were in for two of the toughest, defensive-minded games of the season. Carleton & Ottawa (ranked 10th in the country) were tied for first place with us a game back. With a 2 point loss to Carleton on Friday and an 11 point, overtime win against Ottawa on Saturday we remain in third place, one game back of Ottawa and two games back of the now first place Carleton team.

Queen’s 55 - Carleton 57
We seemed a little “tight” to start this game – probably a product of having struggled with Carleton for the last few seasons. Carleton opened up a 19-12 first quarter lead. They increased their lead to 9 in the second quarter before we settled down and varied our defense frequently hoping to keep Carleton off balance. We won the second quarter 19-9 to grab a 31-28 half time lead. We continued on the same path in the third opening the lead with a 13-8 quarter. We scored early in the fourth to build our largest lead, 13. But then things changed and Carleton started chipping away at the lead. After going to the foul line 8 times in the first 3 quarters, they went 18 times in the fourth (we went to the line twice). Despite outscoring Carleton from the floor (10-8), we were outscored 11-1 from the foul line including the game winner with 0.4 seconds to go. It was a very frustrating loss. Gemma Bullard returned to the line up to drop 19 points, while Jenny Wright added 12.

Box score: http://english.cis-sic.ca/sports/wbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140124_z8lg.xml

Queen’s 57 – Ottawa 46 (OT)
Despite a sloppy start on offense, it was clear that the previous day’s loss, had spurned a renewed intensity in our defence. The first six possessions of the game (both teams) resulted in a turnover or shot clock violation. Getting good looks at the basket was going to be a challenge all game. Ottawa outscored us 11-14 in the first and by one in a very low scoring second quarter, 7-8, to trail 18-22 at the half. Our third quarter was our best of regulation as we put up 17 points to their 11. Ottawa outscored us 8-10 in the fourth (including a late 3 by Kingston native, Sarah Besselink) to tie the game at 43. Heading into our second overtime game of the season (previously beating Brock, 69-65), I actually sensed a heightened level of confidence in our players as we talked on the bench before the 5 minute period. It certainly showed as they dominated the overtime period 14-3 to end with the 57-46 win. Liz Boag led the way with 15 points, while Jenny Wright added 14 (8 in the overtime). Robyn Pearson added another double-double to her credit with 10 points and 14 boards.

Box score: http://english.cis-sic.ca/sports/wbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140125_m9sv.xml


Belated congratulations to Jenny Wright who named Queen’s Athlete of the Week last week – her second time this season.

Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 31 vs. Algoma 6pm
Saturday, February 1 vs. Laurentian 6pm

Friday, February 7 vs. Ottawa 6pm
Saturday, February 8 vs. Carleton 6pm (Graduating Athlete Night)

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, February 14 @ Toronto 6pm
Saturday, February 15 @ Ryerson 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

After a long trip to Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, we have returned with two wins in the bank. We travelled almost constantly through a mixture of flurries and heavy snow, with hotel arrivals after midnight on each of the Thursday/Friday/Saturday nights. Our on court basketball was not at the level we would like it to be, but we are moving back in the right direction. We were a little short-handed, with Gemma Bullard (shoulder) and Abby Dixon (illness) unable to dress. We hope to have both back in the lineup this week.

Queen’s 63 – Laurentian 60
The first quarter was a back and forth affair, with both teams finding the hoop fairly well. We struggled defensively at times, particularly on the boards. We led 16-13 after one. The second quarter was very sloppy, as we turned the ball over 8 times in the frame. Laurentian outscored us 12-8 in the quarter to go up 24-25 at the half. Our performance continued to deteriorate in the third and with less than 5 minutes to go, we found ourselves down 11. We found a little life and scored 13 points in the last 3 ½ minutes to win the quarter 17-16 and head into the fourth tied at 41. We did a much better job of taking care of the ball in the fourth and eventually built a 10 point lead, only to have Laurentian hit a couple of 3s to keep it close. They finished with a buzzer 3 to come within 3, 63-60. Jenny Wright had a monster game (despite being ill), dropping 27 points, while Liz Boag added 13 points on four 3-pointers and a foul shot. Robyn Pearson continued her double digit performances with 13 rebounds.

Box score: http://english.cis-sic.ca/sports/wbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140117_mrrc.xml


Queen’s 54 – Algoma 34
We took control of this game right from the outset, forcing Algoma into numerous turnovers. We racked up 19 first quarter points to Algoma’s 7. We continued the pressure throughout the second quarter, and although Algoma handled it much better, we still outscored them 14-8 to take a 33-15 lead into half time. Much the same for the third quarter as we put up 15 to their 7. Algoma did outscore us in the fourth 12-6 as we took the pressure off, to finish with the 54-34 final. We did manage to spread our minutes around, with each of the 12 players receiving at least 10 minutes, and no one playing more than 24. Jenny Wright continued her stellar play notching 16 points in 21 minutes of play. Liz Boag found her range, going 4-6 from beyond the arc to record 15 points in 23 minutes of play.

Box score: http://english.cis-sic.ca/sports/wbkb/2013-14/boxscores/20140118_ayu0.xml

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, January 24 @ Carleton 6pm
Saturday, January 25 @ Ottawa 6pm

Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 31 vs. Algoma 6pm
Saturday, February 1 vs. Laurentian 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

A very disappointing weekend on the basketball court, with a loss to Ryerson by 3 and a loss to Toronto by 14. However, there was a bright side to Saturday’s game, billed as our “Shoot for the Cure” game to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research. I would like to personally thank those that accepted the challenge to donate $1 for every point scored in the Toronto game. With the final score 70-56, $126 was contributed by each of the following:
• Makenzie Curran (the 15 yr. old local basketball player who needed and found a match for a bone marrow transplant)
• Caroline & Neil Dixon
• Leanne Hazlett
• Kathy Jackson
• Sally & Bryan Pearson
Along with our players raising $400, I am very pleased to announce that we raised over $1,000.

Again thank you to everyone who contributed – it is greatly appreciated. If you are still interested in contributing (any amount), please visit the website: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=2184664&langPref=en-CA

Queen’s 67 – Ryerson 70
We came out well to start the game from an offensive perspective, shooting the ball fairly well. Our difficulties, however, were three-fold and haunted us for the entire game. We had difficulty keeping Ryerson off the glass, struggled with turnovers, and shot poorly from the foul line. Despite Ryerson taking more shots than us, we held a 16-15 lead after the first. Ryerson evened the score by half time, (17-18) knotted at 33. Ryerson then outscored us 14-10 in the third quarter, which would prove to be the difference. We struggled mid-way through the fourth quarter, going down by as many as 11 points, before making a late game run to get it to 1. But that was as close as we would come, before falling 67-70. We had a good spread in scoring with Gemma Bullard knocking down 14, Robyn Pearson 13 (and 9 boards), Liz Boag 12, and Emily Hazlett 11. The determinants: gave up 20 offensive rebounds, committed 21 turnovers, and shot 50% (11-22) from the foul line.

Queen’s 56 – Toronto 70
Toronto found their rhythm early in this game, and that was not good news for us. We gave up 21 first quarter points, although we did manage 17 of our own. The second quarter was really our undoing, as we managed only 6 points, while surrendering 18. Down 39-23 at the half, we never were able to recover. Our shooting percentages were down, in particular from 3pt. range, although our foul shooting did improve from the night before. We outscored Toronto 19-18 in the third and 14-13 in the fourth, but were never challenging for the game. We gave up 17 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over 20 times – areas that must improve for us to be successful. Jenny Wright ended up with 14 points, while Liz Boag added 12. Robyn Pearson hit double digits with 13 boards to go along with her 8 points.

A belated congratulations to Robyn, who was named the Queen’s Athlete of the Week last week following our win over York.

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, January 17 @ Laurentian 6pm
Saturday, January 18 @ Algoma 6pm

Friday, January 24 @ Carleton 6pm
Saturday, January 25 @ Ottawa 6pm

Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 31 vs. Algoma 6pm
Saturday, February 1 vs. Laurentian 6pm

Have a great week.

Dave.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

Good to know that we carried our 4 game league-play winning streak into 2014 with a win over York, 74-61. York had their best shooting game of the year, keeping the game very close throughout almost the entire game. It wasn’t until the last 2 minutes of the game that we were able to stretch the lead.

Queen’s 74 – York 61
We opened the game very well, scoring the first 10 points, but York was able to answer with back to back to back 3’s to make it 10-9. This foreshadowed how the rest of the game would go. Statistically this season, York has really struggled with the long ball, but ended up 5-7 in the first half. We closed the first quarter up 14-9. York found their rhythm both inside and in their short range game in the second quarter posting 22 points to our 19 making it a 33-31 half time margin. The third quarter was a back and forth affair with the lead changing hands several time. We finished the quarter with a 4 point lead, outscoring York 20-18 in the quarter. The fourth continued to be a tight battle with only 4 points separating the teams mid-way through the fourth. We closed out the game (last 2 minutes) very well, giving up no points and stretching our lead to 13. We used a very balanced attack with 5 players in double figures, while recording 17 assists as a team. Emily Hazlett led the way with 18 points, followed by Robyn Pearson with 14 points and 17 rebounds (amazing). Andrea Priamo had 13 points and 6 boards, while Jenny Wright matched her in point production with 13 along with 6 assists. Liz Boag rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points and 7 assists.

Shoot for the Cure (Breast Cancer Research Fundraiser)
On Saturday, January 11th, we will be holding our annual Shoot for the Cure basketball game to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. This is an initiative by the Women’s Basketball Coaching Association (WBCA) with CIS teams from across the country trying to raise funds.

This is what the CIS Women’s Basketball Teams have been able to accomplish since the program’s 2008 inception:

SHOOT FOR THE CURE YEAR-BY-YEAR DONATIONS:
2012-2013: $110,553.96* ($90,450.62 to CBCF)
2011-2012: $121,248.70 ($98,706.92 to CBCF)
2010-2011: $143,596.25 ($104,763.53 to CBCF)
2009-2010: $104,715.80 ($94,650.96 to CBCF)
2008-2009: $92,512.96 ($81,512.96 to CBCF)
2007-2008: $50,320.87 ($50,320.87 to CBFC)

TOTAL: $622,948.54 ($520,405.86 to CBCF)
*some funds went to local chapters of the Breast Cancer Foundation

Please help us add to this total by donating on-line at:

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=3961024&LangPref=en-CA

By way of incentive, I will again donate $1 for every point scored (both teams) in our game on Saturday and I respectfully challenge anyone to match my donation. If you let me know, I will have your name announced during the game (and thank you very much!).

Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 10th vs. Ryerson 6pm
Saturday, January 11th vs. Toronto 6pm (Shoot for the Cure – Breast Cancer Game)

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, January 17 @ Laurentian 6pm
Saturday, January 18 @ Algoma 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.


Friday, January 3, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

Happy New Year!

We had a relatively successful Concordia tournament to close out 2013, winning two and losing one. We avenged an earlier loss against Laval in the opening game, before being demolished by Concordia in the second, and regrouping for a win against Bishop’s on the final day. We are now preparing for our second league match up with York, set for Saturday, January 4th.

Queen’s 59 – Laval 42
After having lost to Laval at the Ryerson tournament in October 48-78, it was a sweet feeling to walk away with a convincing win. A little rusty in the ball handling and shooting department, we only put up 13 points in the first quarter, and shy of a buzzer-beater half-court shot by Laval, held them to only 2 foul shots in the opening frame. We continued with an 18-13 second quarter to lead, 31-18 at the half. We continued to increase our lead, (11-9 in the third) and built as much as a 26 point lead in the fourth, before settling for the 59-42 win. Andrea Priamo led the way with 14 points, while Jenny Wright added 13.

Queen’s 34 – Concordia 86
Ouch! After beating Concordia by 15 in our tournament in the fall, Concordia exacted their revenge with no mercy what so ever. It was the perfect storm, with Concordia shooting the ball at better than twice their regular shooting percentage and us being very flat and ineffective. The game was never in doubt as Concordia scored the first 14 points of the game, and finished the first quarter up 28-14. Dominating every aspect of the game, they outscored us 18-3, 18-10 and 22-7 the rest of the way. Robyn Pearson managed 10 points and 7 boards.

Queen’s 60 – Bishop’s 46
Still reeling from the beating the night before, we were actually quite sharp in the first half of this game, outscoring Bishop’s 19-9 in the first quarter and 19-10 in the second. We lost our focus in the second half as our shooting went cold and we let that affect our defense as well. While the game was never in doubt, Bishop’s did outscore us by 5 in the second half to finish with the 60-46 score. Jenny Wright had a monster game with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 steals! Emily Hazlett chipped in with 11 points, 6 boards and 5 steals, while Robyn Pearson finished with 10 points and 7 boards.

Up Next at Home:
Saturday, January 4th vs. York 6pm

Friday, January 10th vs. Ryerson 6pm
Saturday, January 11th vs. Toronto 6pm (Shoot for the Cure – Breast Cancer Game)

I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and from all of us with the Queen’s Basketball team, we wish you all the best for 2014 and beyond.

Dave.