Hi Folks,
Another successful weekend, as we beat Ryerson 79-75 in overtime, and Toronto 86-63. In the last 3
weeks, we have beaten the #8, #7, & #6 team in the country, and continue to
hold on to our #5 ranking. We are now the
only undefeated team in the country in league play with a 10-0 record.
Michelle Istead –
newest Gael
I am very pleased to announce
the signing of Michelle Istead to
our 2017 roster. Michelle, an Ottawa
native, is a 5-8 guard heading into the Queen’s Kinesiology program. She is a 3-time member of the Ontario
Provincial Team, 2-time JUEL All-Star, was selected to the JUEL All-Defensive
team, and was awarded the Dunbar Medical Community Service Award. Michelle is a perfect fit for our program:
she brings a tenacity on defence, an excellent array of offensive talent, and
an incredibly competitive spirit that is becoming the hallmark of our Queen’s
team. Combining all that with
outstanding character, and high academic achievement, it is not surprising that
Michelle has already been warmly received into our basketball family.
Queen’s 79 – Ryerson 75
(OT)
As one might expect with teams ranked 1 spot apart in the
national rankings, it was a very closely contested game which featured 10 lead
changes and 12 ties. Midway through the
first quarter, Ryerson grabbed what would be, their largest lead of the game (5
points) before we climbed back to finish with a 16-15 lead after one. In the second quarter, the pace of the game
continued to increase, and while we gave up more shots than in the first
quarter, our defense was a little tighter.
We finished with a 20-15 quarter, to lead 36-30 at half, which would
prove to be our largest lead of the game.
We went very cold shooting in the third quarter, despite good
opportunities, converting on only 3 of 18 shots (after 7 of 17 in each of the
first two quarters). Ryerson outscored
us 13-18 to get within 1 point after 3 quarters. Our shooting percentage was much better in
the fourth quarter (5 of 12), but Ryerson was even better (7 of 12), and
managed a bank 3 point shot with only a couple of seconds left in the fourth to
force the overtime. In overtime, our
offensive execution was outstanding scoring on 6 of our 8 shots and both of our
free throws to outscore Ryerson 14-10 in the 5 min. frame. Abby
Dixon recorded a career high with 21 points, 3 assists and 2 steals to go
along with her excellent defense. Four
other players also hit double digits in scoring: Emily
Hazlett 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists; Robyn Pearson 11 points, 7 boards; Andrea Priamo 10 points, 7 boards; and Marianne Alarie 10 points, 5 boards and 2 steals.
Q’s SID Report: http://gogaelsgo.com/news/2017/1/13/WBB_v_Ryerson.aspx
Queen’s 86 – Toronto 63
I thought we started this game quite well (having been
concerned about the potential letdown after the emotional win the night
before). We shot 50% from the floor, and
held Toronto to 21% to take a commanding 22-9 first quarter lead. From that point on, although our offense
continued to be effective, our defense (and careless turnovers) left us with
only marginal gains in each of the next three quarters. We outscored Toronto 22-17 in the second,
20-18 in the third and 22-19. We did,
however, do a good job at exploiting our size advantage in the post with Andrea Priamo, Robyn Pearson and Veronika
Lavergne all posting double digits in scoring. Andrea
led the way with 19 points and 7 rebounds – a season high for her; Robyn notched another double-double,
with 15 points and 11 boards; while Veronika
had 13 points, 5 boards and 3 steals.
Q’s SID Report: http://gogaelsgo.com/news/2017/1/14/WBB_v_Toronto.aspx
Saturday’s game also marked our “Shoot for the Cure”, Breast Cancer Research game. The players raised $375 in ticket sales, but
the showcase event was the hair-cutting at half-time of the men’s game. Andrea
Priamo, who is the driving force behind the event, Adriana Conti, Trainer Katherine
Bernard Yip-Choy, and sailing athlete Victoria
Restivo all donated locks of their hair for patients needing wigs. Our team members have combined their efforts
with the “Run for the Cure” from the fall, where a number of other team members
also joined in including: Sarah Saftich,
Bridget Mulholland, Myriam Fontaine, Emily Hazlett, Kat Holt, Veronika
Lavergne, Emma Ritcey, Megan Saftich, and trainer, Chris Brooker. All-in, the
have raised more than $2,600!
If you are interested in donating, please click here: http://cibcrunforthecure.supportcbcf.com/site/TR/RunfortheCureFY17/RFTC17?team_id=102679&pg=team&fr_id=2534
Up Next on the Road:
Friday, January 20 @ Brock
6pm
Saturday, January 21 @ McMaster 6pm
Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 27 vs. Nipissing 6pm
Saturday, January 28 vs. Laurentian 6pm
Have a great week!
Dave.
