At The Half

8 & 2. Good? Bad? It is all a matter of perspective, I suppose. There are lots of teams that would be thrilled to be 8 & 2 at this point in their season. I am not. Not at all. We lost 2 matches in the 5th set. Both winnable matches, but both against teams that, as they proved, are good enough that when you don't bring your best when it matters, you lose. Sure, injuries were a factor for our team all fall. At one point or another 4 of our 5 4th year guys were out, but we are deep and talented and regardless of who was on the floor, those were winnable. We just needed to play better when it mattered most.

That isn't rocket science. A coach suggesting that their team needs to play better to win. Imagine that? But seriously, confidence under pressure is the difference between winning and losing. The old adage, 'if you think you can't you won't', is so true. Internal dialogue, including positive, aggressive, affirmative thoughts is a big part of it. A great performance consultant, J.P. Pawliw-Fry once told me, "Athletes need to stop and think about what they are thinking about". They need to check their internal dialogue and thought process when in the heat of battle. What's in your head at that time can be the difference between winning and losing. No room for doubt. No excuses. Just step up and get it done.

That is what we have on our agenda. As we muddle our way through exams and start our second half preparation, we will focus on our weaknesses. We will ask players to step out of their comfort zone in the name of growing their game.

Our goals are high, and while 8 & 2 isn't where we want to be, finishing first is still attainable. We are optimistic and at the same time we know that we need to take care of all the details. In sport, anything can happen. That's part of what makes it fun and challenging. We look forward to that challenge.

Hope you can join us in the second half. It is an exciting team to watch and we appreciate the support the Gaels fans and family bring both at home and on the road.

Happy Holidays to All,

Go Gaels Go!

quote of the week

Hi All.

So we were taking the men's bball team through a 'character development' workout on the force treadmill this afternoon. One of the boys had his head in a bucket after the second set while his team mates went about completing set 3. When he was asked if he could get on the treadmill he stated "it's better than not doing it." Quote of the week, month or even year. Love it. You can not put a price on what that did for the team, the player and for my level of respect for that guy.

Women's Basketball -- Game Report

Hi Folks,

A quick note this time around.  We managed a win last night against our cross-town rivals RMC, 65-43.  We were a little “cold” from the outside to start the game, but did manage to convert a number of transition points to lead 18-12 after the first quarter.  A sloppier second quarter only increased the margin by 1, 32-25 by half time.  A sharper third quarter, 21-6 put the game out of reach.  Brittany Moore led all scorers with 17 points, including 3 for 5 from behind the arc.  Liz Boag continued her stellar play with 14 points (2 for 4 from the 3-point line).  Lisa Minutillo added 11 points, while Sydney Kernahan grabbed 12 boards and Jill Wheat grabbed 11 rebounds.

The first question I get asked at work is not what the score was – I’m asked if we had any more injuries?  Fortunately, the answer is no – no more injuries, thank goodness.  Christine Wallace (injured in the McGill game) underwent ACL knee surgery earlier this week and was up and about yesterday.  Meaghan MacDougall injured her knee against Western and is now scheduled for ACL surgery as well.  Both are looking to be back, fully healed in June.

Rachael Urosevic has been out for just over a month with a stress fracture in her foot.  We are hoping that the doctor will give her clearance to begin playing again post Christmas.  Jordan Tomas has also been out for over a month with pain in her feet.  We are hoping for the same prognosis.

Gemma Bullard suffered a concussion in our game against Guelph and is progressing.  She has begun light exercise and hopes to be at full capacity after Christmas as well.

As an update on our “Shoot for the Cure” Breast Cancer Fundraising initiative – we were able to raise over $1,500.00.  Bob Urosevic joined our challenge group and donated $1 per point as well to push us over the $1,500 mark.  Thanks to everyone for their support – both with the team and with this fundraising effort.

Reminder: ID/Training Camp is this Sunday (Dec. 5) from 9-11am and 1-3pm.  Interested players in Grades 10-12 are welcome – just drop me a quick note so I can prepare for the numbers.

Up Next on the Road:

Wed-Fri. Dec. 29-31 @ Concordia Tournament in Montreal

First Game: Wed. Dec. 29 vs Bishop’s 4:00pm

All the best.

Dave.

Gaels snap six game losing skid with 65-43 win over RMC

KINGSTON, Ont. (December 2, 2010) - The Queen's Gaels women's basketball team snapped a six game losing streak with a 65-43 win over cross town rival Royal Military College (RMC) on Thursday evening at RMC.

Queen's Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., was the game's leading scorer recording 17 points with nine of those coming on three pointers. Kingston's Liz Boag chipped in 14 points while Lisa Minutillo of Brantford, Ont., tallied 11.

Sydney Kernahan of Calgary, was the games top rebounder posting 12 boards. Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta., also broke double digits in rebounds with 11. Wheat currently sits 18th in the nation with 63 total rebounds.

Carley Lewis of Halifax, Ont., and Sandy Edminson of Carleton Place, Ont., were RMC's top scorers sinking 12 points each. Stephanie Stone of Kingston notched a double-double for the Palidins with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The win puts the Gaels record at 2-7 which ties them with the Ryerson Rams for fifth place in the OUA East heading into the December exam break. RMC holds a 1-8 record and is tied with Laurentian for last place with two points.

Queen's will be back on the court from December 29-31 in the exhibition Concordia Invitational Tournament in Montreal. Their next regular season match is set for Jan. 7 against the Laurentian Lady Vees in North Bay.

NOTES: The Gaels last win came against the Waterloo Warriors back on Nov. 6. Queen's captured that game 66-44... Minutillo's 11 points equalled a career high; she also scored 11 against Waterloo on Nov. 6.

 

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
Life did not get any easier on the Queen’s basketball front.  We faced the #1 ranked team in the nation (Windsor) on Friday and the #5 ranked team (Western) on Saturday.   Both resulted in losses:  19 to Windsor (77-58) and 1 to Western (65-64). (Q’s sports info reports below)
 
We started fairly well against Windsor – only trailing by 2 at the end of the first quarter.  The second quarter, however, we were steamrolled and went into the half down 16.  That climbed over 20 in the third, before battling back in the fourth.  Brittany Moore finished with 16 points, while Liz Boag added 14.  Hanna Koposhynska hit double digits with 11 rebounds to go along with her 6 points.
 
Western was a different story.  We trailed by 2 after the first, but had a strong second quarter to lead by 5 at the half.  That lead was cut to 3 by the end of the third.  Western had a small run that returned them the lead, eventually by as much as 5.  We battled hard, fouled at the end, but could only get back within 1. Moore, again led the team in scoring with 21 points, and again, Boag was on her heels with 16.  Paige Robinson added 10 points, while Jill Wheat grabbed 14 rebounds to go with her 5 points.
 
The Windsor game was our “Shoot for the Cure” game designed to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.  While I do not have the final figures of the money we raised, I am very pleased to announce the number of people & companies that accepted my challenge of donating $1 for every point scored in the game (which ended up being 135).  Many thanks to:
 
Kathy Jackson – School of Kinesiology & Health Studies
Sherwood Smith – benefactor of the Catherine Gertrude Milliken-Smith Award
Lenore & Ron Porter (offered to match $1 for each Windsor point and $2 for each Q’s point – thank you)
Peggy Reid & Sandy Boag (Peggy won the 50/50 draw and donated her winnings as well – thanks very much)
Mila Koposhynska’s employer: Zayouna Law Firm (Toronto)
Alison Robinson (her donation will be matched by her employer Pfizer Animal Health)
Katie Guthrie & Marcel Beaudin (Katie played last year, of course)
 
Thanks very much to all – I will have the final figures in my next newsletter.
 
Reminder: Sunday, December 5 – ID/Training Camp
On-court 9-11am & 1-3pm.  Contact me if you are interested in participating.
 
Up Next on the Road:
Thursday, December 2 @ RMC 6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.
 
No. 1 Windsor tops Queen's 77-58
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 26, 2010) – Jessica Clemencon of St. Rambert, France tallied a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds pacing the No. 1 Windsor Lancers to a 77-58 win over the Queen's Gaels.
 
The Lancers improve to 6-1 on the season and have outscored their opponents by double digits in each of their six wins.
 
Queen's Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., had 16 points in the loss, which was above her season average of 13.8 ppg. Hanna Koposhynska of Toronto had a team-high 11 rebounds while Kingston's Liz Boag had 14 points off the bench, going 3 for 6 from three point range.
 
The Lancers had four players score in double figures, and were benefitted by 45% field goal shooting. Bojana Kovacevic of Windsor was the Lancers second leading scorer with 14 points.
 
Windsor held Queen's to 10 points in the second quarter and 11 points in the third quarter, building a sizable lead going into the final frame.
 
No. 4 Western sneaks past Queen's 65-64
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 27, 2010) – The Queen's Gaels couldn't put the finishing touches on a monster upset as the No. 4 Western Mustang snuck away with a narrow 65-64 win in OUA women's basketball on Saturday.
 
Queen's have now lost six straight and their record sits at 1-7 holding a fifth place tie in the OUA East with Ryerson and RMC. Western is tied with Windsor for top position in the OUA West with 14 points and a 7-1 record.
 
In the dying seconds of the game, the Gaels were down by three points and nearly pulled even with Western at the buzzer. Under immense pressure, Queen's guard Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., three point attempt was blocked. Sydney Kernahan of Calgary got the rebound and made her two point shoot from the key, but failed to draw the foul which ended the game.
 
Western took the early advantage 20-18 in the first quarter, but Queen's taking the lead in early in the second quarter. They controlled the game until they lost the lead with 4:27 remaining in the fourth quarter at 56-54.
 
Moore was the game's top scorer with 21 points and was the only player in the game to break the 20 point barrier. She was 8 for 17 from the floor in 31 minutes of play. Kingston's Liz Boag had 16 points while Jill Wheat was game's top rebounder with 14. Kernahan tallied 10 rebounds in the loss.
 
Western's Jenny Vaughan of Dundas, Ont., led the Mustangs with 19 points and was 4 of 6 at the free throw line.
 
Jacklyn Selfe of Burlington, Ont., posted 17 points in the win including the final six points for the Mustangs.
 
Queen's dominated three point play with the Gaels sinking 8 of 18 for 44.4% while Western shot just 17.6% at 3 for 17.
 
The Gaels will close the 2010 calendar year with a rare Thursday evening game against cross town rival Royal Military College on Dec. 2. Tipoff is 6:00pm at RMC.

Basketball-M - Coach's Report - November 24th, 2010

This weekend marks the final two games of the OUA East and West Interlock schedule and we will finish with the tough task of facing two very talented and deep squads in Windsor and Western this Friday and Saturday night respectively. Windsor currently sits tied atop the west divsion with a record of 5-1 while Western has suffered from some inconsistency and has a record of 3-3.

At this point our focus has very much shifted internally as the players continue to battle hard to have the opportunity to win games. With a record of 1-5 through our first six games we have shown the ability to compete by being in 4 very competitive games and have also shown the ability to falter in losing two lopsided contests to very good teams in WLU and Lakehead. For the most part we have continued to improve defensively and have been able to hang around in games due to our defensive efforts. This is not to say that we are happy with our defense as we have unfortunately shown a consistency for having a poor defensive quarter in each game and in most cases that has coincided with us losing an opportunity to win.

Ultimately, our biggest hurdle remains the ability to score consistently and from a variety of sources. 4th guard Dan Bannister has been tremendous in this area averaging 20.33 PPG to this point in the season placing him in 4th place amongst OUA scoring. Other veteran guards Tim Boyle and Chris Barrett have been steady for the most part at 10 and 8 PPG respectively, however, the depth of our scoring after that becomes inconsistent. At this point in order to get better in the immediate future we must be extremely efficient at converting easy basket opportunities. For example, this past Saturday night at Lakehead we found ourselves down by 17 at the half against a very good team. However, in that first half we missed what I would consider 5 uncontested layups and went 1-6 from the free throw line. Those 15 points can mean all the difference in making an early blow out into a tight contest. The bottom line is that collectively we as a team must grasp the easy opportunities we create while also working to get more efficient at creating those opportunities. The later of these two falls primarily to the myself and the coaching staff as we continue to explore other ways in which we can generate more consistent offense.

As a team we have struggled in certain areas, however, there is no doubt that the players are competing night in and night out and are determined to improve as are we as coaches. This weekend we will approach each game separately and prepare in a way that will give us the best opportunity to win. Our hope is that we can take at least one win away from this weekend which will allow us to stay with the pack in the OUA east.

We have had two long weeks on the road and I think that all of us are really looking forward to returning to the friendly confines of the ARC. I hope that some of you are able to get out to see the games this weekend and support the players in their efforts.

Note: Many of you have been asking how Mitch Leger has been doing with his professional experience. Mitch is playing in the Pro B League in Hamburg, Germany and after taking a bit of time to adjust to the nuances of the European game (and officiating) Mitch has settled in well. He recently put together two spectacular back to back performances which saw him win player of the week honours in his conference. We wish Mitch continued success with this challenge. If you would like to follow Mitch the following link will provide you with up to date statistics:

http://www.eurobasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=GER&PlayerID=123029

Thanks for all of your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Duncan

getting into post-season training

Hi All.

Lots of my athletes are heading into post-season training. I like this time of year because I get to reconnect with those athletes who have been dedicated to practice time and not always around the weight room to chat and catch up. Football has been at it for a week and the rugby's are just starting with teaching sessions this week. The soccers will be next on the hit list. I know it sounds like old sage advice, but training camps really do arrive much, much faster than expected. This season, my programs have taken on a creative tact with the traditionals mixed in to make sure everyone gets stronger. I'm in the mood to not get overly extravagant with the exercises and equipment. In essence, the variations all circle around keeping the programs interesting and making sure that the athletes get stronger/fitter etc and avoid injury. There are so many gimics that can draw a program into a circus act and I will admit that it has happened to me on ocassion but I'm fighting it this season. The BOSU's will be minimal, but the squats, DB presses and RDL's will remain. Naturally, I can't avoid the keisers because they are completely awesome, but other toys will be kept in the background. Let's see how it goes.

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
This was another tough weekend, with a trip Friday to Hamilton to take on McMaster, followed by a flight the next morning to Thunder Bay to play Lakehead.  Despite both resulting in losses, (68-47 to Mac & 64-62 to Lakehead), they were completely different games.  Our performance against McMaster was dreadful, virtually in all aspects of the game.  Our inability to take care of the basketball (28 turnovers against a team that did not press us), and our inability to defend (especially in transition) really had me questioning our methods in practice to date.
 
Saturday, despite being a long (less than seamless) day of travel, and a very slow start to the game (trailing 19-8 after the first quarter), we settled down to play some decent basketball.  We outscored Lakehead in each of the next 3 quarters (20-16, 19-16, 15-13), but fell just short (literally) as a last second shot to tie, landed on the front rim.  Against Lakehead's pressure and variety of defenses, we turned the ball over 18 times -- not a great stat, but better than the previous few games.  We were 0 for 6 from the 3 point line in the first half, but went 4-6 in the second.  Rebounding improved from Friday to Saturday, but still requires much focus.
 
ID/Training Camp:  Just a reminder that we will be hosting an ID/Training Camp for players in Gr. 10-12 that may have an interest in playing for Q's down the road.  The on-court sessions will be held on Sunday, December 5^th from 9-11am and 1-3pm.  In between the on-court sessions we will provide a tour of the new Athletics & Recreation Centre and answer questions about our program, academics and university life.  Please drop me a quick email if you would like to attend (no cost) so that I can prepare for the numbers.
 
Many of our readers know that we have a group of men and women come in to scrimmage against our team each week to help us prepare for the upcoming games.  They are affectionately known as our scrubs, one of whom, Iain Reid, is now an accomplished author, having recently released his new book called, "One Bird's Choice."  Here's a small review from Maclean's magazine:
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/09/16/146096/3/   It would make a great Christmas gift!
 
This coming weekend marks the last of our home games for the fall.  Our Friday game against Windsor (ranked # 1 in Canada) is also our "Shoot for the Cure" game, where we try to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Research.  Funds raised from this game and other initiatives will be combined with other universities and presented to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation at the CIS Women's Basketball Championship with the goal of raising $100,000.  This goal was met last year with just over $104,000 raised.  Please note that funds raised in Kingston will remain in the local chapter of the Breast Cancer Foundation.  Please come out and support our team and at the same time support our "Shoot for the Cure" event.  
 
A Challenge:  I will donate $1 for every point scored in the game (both teams) and I would like others to join me in this venture.  You can accept this challenge individually, as a small group,  or as a company.  In any case, contact me with your pledge and I will have your name (or company name) included in our game announcements throughout the evening.  Of course, tax receipts will be provided.
 
Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 26 vs Windsor   6pm (Shoot for the Cure game)
Sat., November 27 vs Western       6pm
 
Up Next on the Road:
Thursday, December 2 @ RMC      6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.

 
Marauders hand Gaels third straight defeat
HAMILTON (November 19, 2010) � The Queen's Gaels women's basketball (1-4) team lost their third straight decision 68-47 to the McMaster Maruaders (2-3) Friday night in Hamilton.
 
Alyska Lukan of Barrie, Ont., led the Marauders in scoring, pouring in 15 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Jaklynn Nimec of Binbrook, Ont., and Taylor Chariot of Hamilton, also reached double-digits for McMaster, recording 11 and 10 points respectively.
 
Paige Robinson of Calgary, was the only Gael to reach double-digits in scoring on the night as she finished with 15 points. Liz Boag of Kingston, Ont., also had a solid game for Queen's, adding seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
Queen's struggled to make shots on the night, shooting 30% from the floor and just 69% from the free throw line.
 
 
Gaels edged out by Lakehead
THUNDER BAY, Ont. (November 20, 2010) - Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., led all scorers with 19 points but it wasn't enough as the Queen's Gaels fell to the Lakehead Thunderwolves by a 64-62 score.
 
Moore scored from every part of the court in this game as she hit three field goals from inside the arc, three field goals from outside the arc, and four free throws to round out her scoring. She was also the Gaels leading rebounder with six, two of which came in the offensive end.
 
The Gaels couldn't contain Lindsay Druery of Smithville, Ont., as she led the Thunderwolves with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Gaels had difficulty hitting shots from the floor as they made 31% of their shots. Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta., and Meaghan MacDougall of Martintown, Ont., were the other double digit scorers for the Gaels with 13 and 10 points respectively.
 
  The Gaels will be in action on Friday night when they return home to take on the Windsor Lancers. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 pm. 

Women's Basketball - Game Report (Nov. 12-13)

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the delay in this posting -- I am referring to the November 12/13 weekend below. 

A rather disappointing weekend to report this time around.  After beating Guelph by 15 in our tournament October 30, we came out flatter than any team I have seen in the last 5 years.  We lost 69-59, but the score was not indicative of how poorly we played.  In fact, having shown no signs of life 5 minutes into the fourth quarter, we trailed by 24 points.  Over the next 5 ½ minutes we went on a 22-4 run to bring the game to 6, but ran out of time and fouled at the end to lose by 10.  One would think that we must have played good basketball in the 5 ½ minute span, but that was not actually the case.  It was very disappointing.
 
On a more positive note, we were able to start the game with 10 dressed players (instead of last week’s 8) as Meaghan MacDougall and Hanna Koposhynska returned to the line up.  However, we finished the game with only 9 healthy bodies as Gemma Bullard went down with a concussion and is out for an indeterminate amount of time.
 
Saturday we moved on to St. Catharines to play Brock, resulting in an 8 point loss, 75-67.  No question our intensity was much better in this game, but we had difficulty identifying and staying with the array of excellent 3-point shooters on the Badgers.  (see SID game report below)  Brock was also able to expose a number of our fundamental weaknesses that will become the focus of our practices going forward.
 
Injuries have certainly plagued this team, along with a number of other teams in the CIS.  As we look forward to this weekend’s match ups, McMaster has also been cursed with the injury bug.  Looks like it will be a battle of two hospital wards.  Lakehead, on the other hand, seems to have a full roster intact.  In both cases, we have our hands full.
 
Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 19 @ McMaster            6pm
Sat., November 20 @ Lakehead                6pm
 
Up Next at Home:
Friday, November 26 vs Windsor               6pm
Sat., November 27 vs Western                   6pm
 
Correction Notice:
Minor correction to my last post regarding the ID/Training Camp set for Sunday, December 5^th.  On-court times are 9-11am and 1-3pm (previously reported as 1:30-3:30pm).  Drop me an email if you would like to attend.
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.


Gaels fall to Gryphons on the road
GUELPH, Ont. (November 12, 2010) – The Queen's Gaels women's basketball team lost 69-59 Friday night to the Guelph Gryphons.
 
Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., led the Gaels in scoring with 20 points on the night.
 
Ali Dzikowski was the top scorer for Guelph as she dropped 21 points to lead the Gryphons to the win.
 
Queen's will be back in action tomorrow night when they take on the Brock Badgers at 6:00 pm in St. Catharines.
 
 
Robinson registers a career high 17 points in 75-67 loss to Badgers
ST. CATHARINES, Ont., (November 13, 2010) - Paige Robinson of Calgary recorded a career high 17 points but her effort wasn't enough as the Queen's Gaels lost 75-67 to the Brock Badgers in women's basketball on Saturday.
 
Robinson, a second year guard with Queen's, was 6-for-12 from the floor and was a perfect from the foul line. She also tallied six rebounds in the loss. Her previous career high was 12 points against Laurentian last January.
 
Hillary Woodside of Fall River, N.S., dropped 21 points in the win for the Badgers as three different players posted double digits to help Brock past Queen's. Whitney Gorges of Welland, Ont., had 18 points while Emily McKay of Toronto posted 10 points. Woodside and Gorges also had eight rebounds.
 
Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., was the only other Gaels to break double digits recording 16 points in 32 minutes of play.
 
Queen's Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta., had a game high nine rebounds in the loss.
 
The loss drops Queen's record to 1-3 and the Gaels sit in a four way tie for fourth place in the OUA East with Ryerson, York and RMC.

life savers

Hi All.
I've worked with quite a few injured athletes this past couple of weeks and the sessions have been reminding me of the stresses I dealt with 5 years ago when I herniated 2 disks in my lower back. I fought the reality of the situation until a good friend of mine reinforced the need to go back to basics and essentially learn to move all over again. It took ages to get things right, but years later, I have very few symptoms and can manage things that I never thought I would be able to do again. The athletes who are facing the injuries that I have seen this past week are at that tricky spot where they need to face the reality of how to work through an injury. It takes more than just dealing with the pain. You need to figure out what else can be done to create improvement and you also need to work on the healthy components of your fitness and make them even better. I will hopefully help them see the light.
My life-saver lesson comes from a trail run that I did on Sunday. The route that I decided to take through Gould Lake was insane. It had rocks, roots, moss, drop offs and crazy ups and downs. On one of the easiest parts of the trail, I went over on my right ankle. The exercises that I have been doing in the weight room became my life savers. I reacted quickly enough to pull myself straight and not completely wreck my ankle. Phew! When I trained this morning, I didn't feel the same frustration that I sometimes do with the picky little exercises and movements. All of this goes back to the one conversation I had with a friend when I was in the midst of recovering from my back injury. I'm hoping that my relatively young and injury inexperienced athletes can get the point before it's too late.

Rodney.

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,
 
We opened league play over the weekend with only 8 players dressed for the games and came away with a split.  We lost 63-53 to Laurier and beat Waterloo, 66-42.  (game reports below)
 
We opened the game very well with Laurier – at a rather hectic pace.  Our defense was solid, leading to a number of run-outs and scores in transition.  Laurier countered, however, by jamming all of our breakouts, cutters and screeners; effectively slowing the game down.  We struggled with the physicality of the game, ultimately throwing us off our rhythm.  This is an area of our game requiring specific work, but I am confident that our young team will learn to handle this style.
 
On Saturday, against Waterloo, we again opened the game very well, racking up 28 first quarter points.  Playing a very up-tempo style of game, with significant defensive pressure, allowed us to find our way to the hoop quickly and often.  However, the comfort of a 21 point first quarter lead, took the “edge” off our game, and really played mostly uninspired basketball the rest of the way.  Everyone in sport knows the difficulty in maintaining focus when the game is out of reach, but as a young team we need to develop these skills to avoid the huge swings in score that we have experienced so far this season – another work in progress.
 
Gemma Bullard was named Queen’s Athlete of the Week for her 30 point weekend performance.  Twenty-one of those points came against Waterloo, shooting 2-4 from the 3-pt. line, 6-9 from the floor and 3-3 from the foul line, while grabbing 5 boards.
 
Reminder: ID/Training Camp
We will be hosting our annual ID/Training Camp on Sunday, December 5, 2010.  We have on-court sessions planned from 9:00 to 11:00am and 1:30 to 3:30pm.  Facility tours and question/answer sessions will be held between the on-court sessions.  The camp is open to Grade 10, 11 & 12s (females) who may be interested in attending Queen’s in the future.  There is no cost to register, but please drop me an email if you plan to attend to help me prepare for the numbers.
 
Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 12 @ Guelph     6pm
Sat., November 13 @ Brock           6pm
 
Friday, November 19 @ McMaster            6pm
Sat., November 20 @ Lakehead                6pm
 
Have a great week!
 
Dave.
 
Gaels fall 63-53 to Golden Hawks in home opener
Caleb Homewood - Sports Information Student
11/5/2010 11:16:50 PM
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 5, 2010) – The Queen's Gaels let an early 16 point lead slip away as they suffered a 63-53 loss to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in their regular season home opener in Kingston Friday night.
 
Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., led the Gaels with 18 points and six rebounds. Gemma Bullard of Guelph, Ont., also contributed nine points for the Gaels in the loss.
 
The Gaels dominated the Golden Hawks early in the game with an offensive performance from Moore. Queen's led by as much as 16 points midway through the second quarter. However, the Golden Hawks clawed back in the final minutes of the second quarter to shorten the Gaels lead to two with a score of 29-27.
 
The Gaels were held to nine points in the third quarter, and a string of turnovers allowed the Golden Hawks to build an eight point lead. Queen's attempted to make a comeback in the final quarter of the game, and a layup from Robinson brought the Gaels within four points. This was as close as Queen's would get, however, as the Laurier kept their lead for a final score of 63-53.
 
Renata Adamczyk of Greensville, Ont., was the leading scorer for the Golden Hawks with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
 
 
Bullard scores 21 in 66-42 win over Waterloo
Posted by: Caleb Homewood (Sports Information Student)
11/6/2010 11:14:35 PM
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 6, 2010) – Gemma Bullard of Guelph, Ont., tallied a career-high 21 points as the Queen's Gaels women's basketball team defeated the Waterloo Warriors 66-42 on Saturday.
 
Bullard playing in just her second career CIS regular season contest was 8-for-13 in seventeen minutes on the floor and contributed five rebounds in the win. Her previous high was nine points in the Gaels loss to Laurier on Friday.
 
Queen's Sydney Kernahan of Calgary recorded a double-double in the win tallying 10 points and 10 rebounds. Liz Boag of Kingston, Ont., and Lisa Minutillo of Brantford, Ont., each scored 11 points each for the Gaels.
 
Erin Tilley of Oakville, Ont., led the Warriors with 12 points and 11 rebounds and was the only Warrior to record a double-double.
 
Queen's established a 19 point lead at the end of the first quarter and rode that lead for the next three quarters. The Gaels would never allow Waterloo within 15 points for the remainder of the game.
 
Bullard dominated the Warriors posting 19 points in the first half alone.
 
The win brings the Gaels season record to an even 1-1. Queen's next game is against the Guelph Gryphons in Guelph next Friday November 12.