Monday, November 30, 2015

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

We had a very successful weekend to finish off the fall portion of our schedule, recording road wins against Laurier and Waterloo.  Further, we hosted our ID/Training Camp on Sunday, with more than a dozen highly skilled athletes in attendance. 

Congratulations to Andrea Priamo who was selected as the Queen’s Athlete of the Week for her performances against McMaster and Brock (info was released just after my last Newsletter).

What does the NBA All-Star weekend have to do with our basketball team?  See below for details.

Queen’s 64 – Laurier 61  (Jenny Wright tops the 1,000 point marker)
Continuing in what seems to have become a tradition of very close games against Laurier, this game featured 17 lead changes, 9 tied scores, and neither team ever gaining more than a 5 point advantage.  The pace of the game was more to our liking as we ended up with 82 shots from the floor – the first time we have topped 80 shots in a while.  However, our finishing was still not where we would like it to be, converting only 29 of those shots (35%).  We lost the opening quarter 17-19 but then narrowly won the next three, 17-14, 17-16 and 13-12 for the 3 point win.  We had a very balanced scoring attack with 5 players in double digits, led by Robyn Pearson with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Jenny Wright, Emily Hazlett, Abby Dixon and Marianne Alarie all had 10 points.  Jenny finished the game with 1004 points to her credit over her 4 ½ seasons with the Gaels, securing third place on the Queen’s all-time scoring list.


Queen’s 84 – Waterloo 69
We opened the game with what appeared to be a more relaxed shooting form leading to a 24 point quarter (to Waterloo’s 18) on 9 of 19 shooting (47%).  Our concern, however, was in surrendering the 18 points.  While our shooting percentage dropped to 30% in the second quarter, and Waterloo rose, we still managed to outscore them 16-14 to go into half with an 8 point lead, 40-32.  It was the third quarter (which had caused us some problems in the past) that actually blew the game wide open as we converted 13 of our 16 shots from the floor (81%) en route to a 31 point outburst, essentially sealing the game.  Four players hit double digits with Jenny Wright finishing with a game high 19 points, followed by Abby Dixon with a double-double of 16 points and 10 boards.  Emily Hazlett and Marianne Alarie each added 13 points.  With her 19 points Jenny now has 1023 on her career, just 32 points shy of Liz Boag (2010-2015) who sits in second place with 1055.  Brittany Moore (2007-2012) sits comfortably as the all-time leading scorer in Queen’s history (men or women) with 1,652.


Congratulations to Jenny Wright as she was selected as the Queen’s Athlete of the Week for her performances this weekend.

Queen’s to be a part of the NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto
As you may know, Toronto is the site of this year’s NBA All-Star weekend, and we have been selected to be a part of the festivities.  We will play our league game against the Windsor Lancers on Saturday February 13, 2016 at the Enercare Centre in Toronto as part of the activities surrounding the 2016 NBA All-Star Game.  Game time is 4:00pm. More details to come in the next few weeks.

Our fall schedule is now complete and we sit atop the East Division with a 6-1 record.  We return to league play in mid-January on the road against division rivals, Toronto and Ryerson.

Have a great week!


Dave.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

It was a very high and a very low weekend as we split the two games, beating the 4th ranked team in the country, and then losing to the 7th ranked team in the country – our first regular season loss.  We came into the weekend ranked 11th.

Queen’s 60 – McMaster 53
We opened the game fairly well, shooting 6 of 14 in the first quarter (43%) while employing a new defence to disrupt McMaster’s main scoring threat.  Mac shot 4 of 20 in the first quarter, only scoring 9 points to our 14.  The second quarter, however, was almost the reverse, as we went ice cold (1 of 14) and only managed 5 points in the quarter to Mac’s 13.  We trailed 19 -22 at the half.  Our execution returned in the second half, as we shot 47% in the third quarter, outscoring Mac 17 – 11, and 62.5% in the fourth quarter, outscoring Mac 24 -20 to grab the 60 – 53 win.  We had a very balance attack, with 4 players in double digits scoring.  Emily Hazlett finished with 13 points and 6 boards, while Abby Dixon added 12 points and 4 assists.  Jenny Wright contributed 11 points, while Andrea Priamo was 1 rebound shy of a double-double, with 10 points and 9 boards.  Robyn Pearson also hit double digits with her 11 boards to go along with 8 points and 3 steals.


Queen’s 50 – Brock 69
Once again, we opened the game reasonably well offensively, shooting 7 of 19, but struggled somewhat on the defensive end.  We led 17 -16 after the first.  The second quarter seemed to grind to a halt, with neither team effective at finding the basket.  Only 19 points were put up in the quarter, 9 by Queen’s and 10 by Brock to leave the game tied at 26 going into the break.  Things went sharply downhill from there as Brock came out and scored the first 8 points enroute to an 18 – 4 run, from which we never recovered.  We were outscored 11 – 28 in the third, and again 13 – 15 in the fourth.  The difference in the game was basically shooting percentage (Q’s 30%, Brock 43.5%) and rebounds (Q’s 36, Brock 47).   Scoring was again spread amongst the same 4 players with Emily Hazlett chalking up 13 points and 7 assists and 6 rebounds.  Abby Dixon also had 13 points, with Jenny Wright adding 11 points and 2 steals, followed by Andrea Priamo completing her double-double this time with 10 points and 10 boards, along with 2 steals and 2 assists.


Our league record is now 4 – 1 and we sit tied with Ryerson atop our division.  Toronto is in third with a 2 – 3 record and York in fourth at 0 – 5.

Quick shout out to Gaels former standout player, Claire Meadows (2002-2007), now in her first season as Head Coach of UBC Okanagan.  After dropping their first game, her team is now on a 5 game winning streak and sit atop their division (Explorer) in Canada West.

Last call for our ID/Training Camp – Sunday, November 29th
On court sessions will be from 9:30-11:45am and again from 1:30-3:30pm.  During the break in between, we will conduct a facility tour and a question and answer session (for players and parents).  The camp is designed for players in Grade 10-12 that may be interested in Queen’s as a university destination.  There is no charge for the camp, but please drop me an email so I can keep track of the numbers.

We have confirmed dates and times for former Canadian Olympic Coaches Allison and Mike McNeill to come and work with our players and coaches in December.  They will be in Kingston from December 27 to the 31st and will work daily with the team, and additionally in smaller breakdown groups (by position).  We are thrilled to be able to provide our players (and coaches) with such a high level of professional development.  It should be a great week.

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 27 @ Laurier  6pm
Saturday, November 28 @ Waterloo  6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.


Monday, November 16, 2015

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
A very successful road weekend left us with two wins, although we still have much to improve upon heading into a very tough home stand this weekend.
 
Queen’s 61 – Laurentian 51
We got off to a decent start in this game opening up a 5 point lead by the end of the quarter, 15-10.  The second quarter was much the same as the first, again adding 5 points to our lead to be up 34-24 at the half.  Our shooting percentage is still below where we would like it to be (43-45% or better), sitting around the 34% mark.  Having said that, our third quarter was pretty dismal as we only managed 9 points to Laurentian’s 14.  Laurentian continued to close the gap in the fourth, eventually tying the game at 47 mid way through the frame.  We then went on a 12-0 in the next 2 minutes to take the game out of reach, finishing with a 14-4 run and the 61-51 win.  Jenny Wright finished with a game high 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.  Robyn Pearson continued her dominance on the boards, grabbing a season high 18, to go along with her 4 steals and 3 blocked shots.
 
Q’s SID Report:  http://gogaelsgo.com/news/2015/11/13/WBB_vs_Laurentian.aspx
 
Queen’s 71 – Nipissing 42
While the final score was a wide margin, this game started out very competitive.  Our shooting percentage continued to hover around 35% for the first quarter, while Nipissing executed very well and converted on 70% of their shots, leaving us tied at 17 after the first quarter.  Our shooting improved to over 40%, while Nipissing dropped to 27%, resulting in a 19-10 quarter, and a 36-27 half time lead.  We came out in the second half with heavy defensive pressure, initiated by some superb on-ball defence by Emily Hazlett.  We outscored Nipissing 16-8 and then continued to wear them down in the fourth, outscoring them 19-7 to finish with the 71-42 win.  Robyn Pearson had a very dominant game with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Andrea Priamo and Marianne Alarie each chipped in with 10 points.
 
Q’s SID Report:  http://gogaelsgo.com/news/2015/11/14/WBB_v_Nipissing.aspx?path=wbball
 
As previously reported, we are very pleased to have signed combo guard, Emma Ritcey to our program for next fall.  Here is the press release for Emma:  http://gogaelsgo.com/news/2015/11/13/WBB_1113155454.aspx?path=wbball
 
ID/Training Camp – Sunday, November 29th
On court sessions will be from 9:30-11:45am and again from 1:30-3:30pm.  During the break in between, we will conduct a facility tour and a question and answer session (for players and parents).  The camp is designed for players in Grade 10-12 that may be interested in Queen’s as a university destination.  There is no charge for the camp, but please drop me an email so I can keep track of the numbers.
 
Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 20 vs. McMaster  6pm
Saturday, November 21 vs. Brock  6pm
 
Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 27 @ Laurier  6pm
Saturday, November 28 @ Waterloo  6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.

Monday, November 9, 2015

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
Just one game to report on this week as we opened league play at home against York.  We start the season ranked 12th in the country.
 
Queen’s 64 – York 47
This was very much a game of inconsistencies.  We opened the game on a tear, scoring 8 points on our first 3 possessions in just over 1 minute of clock time, to lead 8-0.  Then we went 6 minutes without scoring, before dropping another 9 points in the last 2 minutes of the quarter to lead 17-10 after the first.  Our floor shooting was a dismal 27%, although we were 2-5 from the 3 point line.  The second quarter was much the same as the first – our shooting improving marginally to 32% to build a 33-21 half time lead.  The third and fourth quarters saw little change in the style or consistency of play as we outscored York 16-13 in the third and 15-13 in the fourth to finish with the 64-47 win.  Our shooting percentage finished at a poor 32%, although our 3-point shooting was fine at 38%.  Jenny Wright finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.  Abby Dixon had 12 points, 7 steals and 3 assists.  Robyn Pearson had 13 boards and 9 points.  One very positive note, we had 16 assists on our 24 made field goals.
 
Q’s SID Report:  http://gogaelsgo.com/news/2015/11/7/WBB_1107152643.aspx?path=wbball
 
McLean’s magazine survey:  Queen’s Ranks 1st in student satisfaction 
Queen’s leads in student satisfaction among Canada’s medical-doctoral universities according to Maclean’s 2016 university rankings.
 
Results from a student satisfaction survey are a new part of the Maclean’s rankings this year. Queen’s ranked among the top three in all of the survey’s categories, including satisfaction with course instructors, extracurricular activities, mental health services, and residence living, as well as administrative and student life staff.
 
ID/Training Camp – Sunday, November 29th
On court sessions will be from 9:30-11:45am and again from 1:30-3:30pm.  During the break in between, we will conduct a facility tour and a question and answer session (for players and parents).  The camp is designed for players in Grade 10-12 that may be interested in Queen’s as a university destination.  There is no charge for the camp, but please drop me an email so I can keep track of the numbers.
 
Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 13 @ Laurentian  6pm
Saturday, November 13 @ Nipissing  6pm
 
Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 20 vs. McMaster  6pm
Saturday, November 21 vs. Brock  6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.