Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

Sorry for the delay in getting this newsletter out.  We had a disappointing split on the weekend, beating Guelph 65-55, and losing to Brock 64-73.

Our defense was quite strong through the first 3 quarters of the Guelph game, limiting them to 9, 12 and 11 points respectively.  After building an 18 point lead, we relaxed a little too much and surrendered 23 points in the fourth quarter, holding on for a 10 point win.  Our scoring remained quite consistent throughout the game (16, 17, 17, 15).  Our shooting percentage improved slightly from previous games, but is still not where it should be.  Our scoring was well distributed, with four players hitting double digits: Jenny Wright 15, Liz Boag 11, Emily Hazlett and Abby Dixon each 10.

Down another player (Liz Boag was injured late in the Guelph game – Gemma Bullard & Gia Spiropoulos continue to be sidelined by concussion) we battled step for step with Brock, ending with a 21-21 first quarter.  Shooting percentages dropped in the second quarter, while turnovers climbed, resulting in a 10-11 lack luster performance.  The third quarter proved to be our nemesis as we went down 13 at one point before pulling back to within 10 at the end of the third, 44-54.  We continued to chip away in the fourth going on an 11-1 run and tying the game at 55.  We never did gain the lead, having many opportunities, but unable to convert.  Down 3 late in the game, we were forced to foul and Brock went 6 for 6 from the line in the closing seconds leading to the 64-73 final.  Emily Hazlett led the way with double double from her point guard position with 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Abby Dixon and Jenny Wright each had 13 points, while Robyn Person hit double digits with 11 rebounds.

Our league record has fallen to an unenviable 2-3, and not surprisingly have lost our Top 10 ranking, dropping to #12.  We are looking to turn things around with our last two league games before the Christmas break, both at home.

The OUA “Uncovered” Magazine (Season Preview edition) was recently released which prominently featured our program, both on the cover and inside.  It can be seen here: http://issuu.com/ontariouniversityathletics/docs/2014-15_f_basketball_preview

Also note that all of our league games (home and away) are streamed on OUA.TV.  They can be watched live or afterwards by going to this site:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/oua/

Last call for of our annual ID/Training Camp on Saturday, November 29, 2014.  This is an ideal opportunity for anyone in Grades 11 or 12 to display their talents and receive instruction from the Queen’s coaching staff.  The day’s schedule is as follows:
 
     9:30-11:45am On-court session
     11:45-12:15pm Lunch break (on own)
     12:15-12:45pm Facility Tour (parent’s welcome)
     12:45-1:30pm Q&A session with Q’s coaches (parent’s welcome)
     1:30-3:30pm On-court session
 
There is no cost for the ID/Training Camp – just let me know so that I can prepare for the numbers. We have just over 20 attending at this point.

Up Next at Home:
Wednesday, November 25 vs. York 6pm

Friday, November 28 vs. Algoma 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.


Monday, November 3, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

Just one game to report on this week: a 69-60 victory over Ottawa.  It was nice to be back at home where our record, dating back to last season, is now 21-2.  Great to play in front of our home town crowd.

Queen’s 69 – Ottawa 60
There are a couple of important notes about this game.  One, Ottawa had a very depleted line-up, missing their starting post player (6-2), their starting forward (6-1), and starting point guard (5-11).  This left them with a fairly small and inexperienced line up.  Two, despite the final score, this was one of our worst executed games, resulting in 21 turnovers and only 50 field goal attempts (we normally have over 70).  Ottawa did a very good job of taking us out of our rhythm, making it difficult to get any sustained runs going in the game.  On the bright side, we did force 26 turnovers, but had difficulty converting the turnovers into points.  We were aggressive taking the ball to the basket and were rewarded with 45 foul shots.  However, we only converted 25 of those shots, leaving behind 20 points from the foul line.  The one bright spot (without a caveat) was our 3 point shooting, going 6-15 (40%).
Jenny Wright led the way with 18 points, while Liz Boag added 13.  Abby Dixon and Andrea Priamo, both added 11 points and grabbed 7 and 6 rebounds respectively.  Robyn Pearson continued her dominance on the boards with 11 rebounds to go along with her 8 points.



A reminder, we will be holding our annual ID/Training Camp on Saturday, November 29, 2014.  This is an ideal opportunity for anyone in Grades 11 or 12 to display their talents and receive instruction from the Queen’s coaching staff.  The day’s schedule is as follows:
 
  9:30-11:45am On-court session
  11:45-12:15pm Lunch break (on own)
  12:15-12:45pm Facility Tour (parent’s welcome)
  12:45-1:30pm Q&A session with Q’s coaches (parent’s welcome)
  1:30-3:30pm On-court session
 
 There is no cost for the ID/Training Camp – just let me know so that I can prepare for the numbers.

Our fall exhibition season has come to a close, with league play starting on the road this weekend.  Our overall record is 8-3 (7-3 vs. CIS schools) and we are ranked #9 in Canada in the first poll of the season.  Realistically, we need to be playing better by the weekend if we want to beat a very tough Lakehead squad, on the road.

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 7 @ Lakehead  6pm

Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 14 vs. Waterloo  6pm
Saturday, November 15 vs. Laurier  6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.