Monday, January 12, 2015

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

Another very successful league weekend as we beat Nipissing 90-34 and Laurentian 89-62 to move our league record to 6-3. Our defence was sloppy to open the game against Nipissing, allowing 13 first quarter points to a team that is averaging only 27 points per game.  We still led 19-13 after the first, but then tightened our defence in the second to surrender only 6 points to our 32.  Our defence caused the young Nipissing team to turn the ball over (34 times) allowing us some easy run out points and a shooting percentage topping 46%.  Jenny Wright finished with 15 points, while 3 players had 12.  Robyn Pearson had 8 boards to go along with her dozen; rookie Maddie Morris notched her career high; and Emily Hazlett also grabbed 7 boards.

We started the game very sharply on Saturday against Laurentian – the best first half of basketball I have seen from our team in a number of years.  Our defence completely smothered Laurentian, forcing bad shots, hurried shots, and many turnovers.  We outscored them 26-9 in the first quarter and 29-8 in the second quarter to lead 55-17 at the half.  Our focus was not as sharp in the second half as we rode the big lead into the 89-62 final.  Five players hit double digits in scoring: Liz Boag with 19, Emily Hazlett 17 (and 7 boards), Robyn Pearson 12 (and 9 boards), Andrea Priamo and rookie Marianne Alarie (a Sudbury native), each with 10.




The Nipissing game also marked our Shoot for the Cure initiative to help raise money and awareness of Breast Cancer.  Five players donated their hair for the purpose of making wigs for cancer survivors.  Andrea Priamo took the lead on this initiative and also raised the most amount of money.  In addition to Andrea, Abby Dixon, Emily Hazlett, Gemma Bullard, and Nicole Morse all donated their hair.  Thank you to all who donated: more than $3,800 was raised.  If you would like to donate, please visit:  http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?langPref=en-CA&TSID=529602

I am very pleased to announce that Gael Alumni, Claire Meadows has been named the next Head Coach of the University of British Columbia-Okanagan.  She will assume her new position following the completion of this season.  Claire was a Gael from 2002 to 2007 capturing many awards.  She was named the team’s Rookie of the Year in her first season, followed by the team’s Most Improved Player in year 2.  She was the team’s Defensive Player of the Year in her 3rd season and followed that with consecutive team MVPs and OUA All-Star selections.  She finished her career as Queen’s second all-time leading scorer.  While working towards her Master’s Degree in Coaching in the summers, Claire interned as an assistant coach at Queen’s for the 2010-11 season.  The following year, she interned with the University of Alberta, before securing the Assistant Coach position at the University of Lethbridge in 2012.  Please see the UBC-O press release for further details:  https://news.ok.ubc.ca/athrec/2015/01/06/26500/

Up Next on the Road:
Saturday, January 17 @ York  6pm

Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 23 vs. Toronto  6pm
Saturday, January 23 vs. Ryerson  6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a great holiday break and were able to relax and enjoy time with family and friends.

We headed to Montreal for the Concordia tournament for 3 games, capturing only 1 win against 2 losses.  We beat Bishop’s 64-56, lost to Concordia 47-66 and to McMaster 48-75.  We are still not at full strength with Gemma Bullard & Gia Spiropoulos out of the line-up with concussions (and Emily Hazlett missing the last game of the tournament with a shoulder injury), but we are still struggling with our “finishing.”  We shot 34% vs. Bishop’s, but only 26% against Concordia and McMaster.  Our offensive execution was actually not bad (considering we had been off on holidays for a while), but our finishing and overall ball handling was questionable.  I am confident our scoring touch will return soon – we are too good a shooting team to be bogged down much longer.


Shoot for the Cure – Breast Cancer Fundraiser game is this Friday, January 9th against Nipissing.  Five of our players will be cutting their hair following our game and donating the locks for the making of wigs (Abby Dixon, Andrea Priamo, Emily Hazlett, Gemma Bullard, & Nicole Morse).  We are having a little contest (not that basketball players are competitive J) to see who can raise the most money – of course Breast Cancer Research is the ultimate winner.  If you would like to donate, please visit:  http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=582540&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=direct%2fnone

You can donate to an individual player or, if you wish to support all of them, you can donate to Queen’s and we will divide the donation equally amongst all 5 players.

I forgot to mention in my last Newsletter, that 2015 recruit, Myriam Fontaine, captured the Gold Medal at OFSAA in Cornwall in late November, leading the way with 16 points in the finals.  Congratulations to Myriam and her father, Steph, coach of the La Citadelle Patriotes.

Up Next at Home:
Friday, January 9 vs. Nipissing @ 6pm (Shoot for the Cure game)
Saturday, January 10 vs. Laurentian @ 6pm (Kingston Impact Day)

Up Next on the Road:
Saturday, January 17 @ York 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.


Monday, December 1, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

Despite playing short-handed (again) we managed two home wins during the week, beating York 73-38 and Algoma 72-38. Gemma Bullard, Gia Spiropoulos and Liz Boag all missed the games, while Emily Hazlett sat out almost the entire second half against Algoma after taking an elbow to the head.  Our defensive pressure was really the story in both games forcing York to cough the ball up 30 times and Algoma, 36 times.  Our shooting percentage against York still suffered (32%) from the floor but we had 24 more shots than York thanks to our offensive rebounding (22) and their turnovers.  Against Algoma, our shooting percentage was much better (41%) which is pushing closer to where we would like to be on the season.  With balanced scoring against York, our high scorer only recorded 12 points (Jenny Wright), with two others at 10 (Emily Hazlett & Abby Dixon).  Abby continued to find her range against Algoma, posting 20 points to go along with her 7 steals.  Jenny Wright added 11 points, with the rest of the scoring spread across almost the entire roster.

That ends our fall schedule with a league record of 4-3 (12-5 overall), with 12 league games scheduled for January/February. We spent the fall ranked in the Top 10 in Canada, but fell to #12 last week.  Not likely to climb back into the Top 10 this week, but stranger things have happened.

Hopefully, with the break now, we can see our sidelined players recover and return to full strength following the holiday break.  Time will tell.

Q’s SID reports:




We hosted our Annual ID/Training Camp on Saturday with 21 players attending (9 Grade 11s and 12 Grade 12s).  It was a very successful and busy day.  Thanks to all the players (and parents) for making the effort to attend.

Up Next on the Road:

Concordia Tournament
Sunday, December 28 tbd
Monday, December 29 tbd
Tuesday, December 30 vs. McMaster 12 noon

Have a great week!

Dave.

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.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

We had a bit of a rough weekend as we played 3 very tough teams in the Carleton tournament, beating Memorial by 6 (71-65), losing to UQAM by 9 (65-74) and losing to Carleton by 5 (61-66).  Memorial actually ended up winning the tournament as they won both their other games.  I thought our performance on Friday versus Memorial was so-so, lacking consistency and, at times, sloppy.  Saturday versus UQAM our execution and intensity was very poor – possibly our weakest performance of the year.  On Sunday versus Carleton we had a brutal start to the game, going down 18-2 before beginning to play possibly our best basketball of the weekend.  Liz Boag was selected to the tournament All-Star team after amassing 56 points and 12 assists.

Our next biggest challenge is to get healthy.  We have two players out with concussion (Gemma & Jenny) and numerous others battling the flu.

Queen’s 71 – Memorial 65
Queen’s 65 – UQAM 74
Queen’s 61 – Carleton 66


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.

Up Next at Home:
Saturday, November 1 vs. Ottawa  6pm

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, November 7 @ Lakehead  6pm*
*first regular season league game

Have a great week.

Dave.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

We have just returned from Vancouver where we played 3 games.  We opened on Thursday with a loss to UBC (50-58), then travelled to Abbottsford to beat Fraser Valley (75-61) and then to Langley to beat Trinity Western (74-70).  Game reports to follow.  The trip also included an excursion to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Tree Top Walk and Cliff Walk, producing many great photos and lots of fun (check out our facebook page).  Other highlights included the great hospitality of Abby Dixon’s family (parents and grandparents) providing great pre-game meals and slide shows.

Queen’s 50 – UBC 58
It is possible that travelling from Kingston to Toronto by bus, then flying to Vancouver and playing the same evening, had an impact on our performance – at least at the start of the game.  Five minutes in, we were trailing by 14 and had failed to find the bottom of the net.  For the next 35 minutes we outscored UBC, 50-44.  We had good looks early, but failed to convert.  At the same time we did struggle with UBC’s size, as they had an inch or two at every position.  Robyn Pearson finished with a double-double, 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Jenny Wright had 14 points. 

Queen’s 75 – Fraser Valley 61
We struggled again in the first quarter of this one and ending up trailing 13-19 at the quarter.  Our defense picked up, forcing a number of turnovers and allowing us to score a few more points in transition.  We outscored UFV 26-15 to lead, 39-34 at the half.  We opened an even larger lead with a good start to the third quarter, but Fraser Valley battled back with an aggressive, attacking offense that led to many Q’s fouls.  Despite losing the lead at one point in the third, we responded to regain the lead before the end of the quarter.  Continuing to wear Fraser Valley down, our largest lead came at the end of the game, 75-61.  Liz Boag topped all scorers with 18, while Emily Hazlett added 14.

Queen’s 74 – Trinity Western 70
Our third game in 3 days (against a fresh opponent) was a great test for our team depth and conditioning (especially with Gemma Bullard, Jenny Wright & Sarah Saftich all sidelined with injuries).  Trinity Western took it to us early, using their team speed (fastest we’ve seen this year) to outrun us in transition and score early and often.  We started to make adjustments and pulled back to within one at the quarter 20-21.  However, Trinity Western was able to keep up the pace and increased their lead to 40-43 by half.  A great start to the second half saw us erase the deficit and grab our first lead of the game, going up by as many as 9 points.  It was short-lived however, as TWU regained the lead 54-55 by the end of the 3rd quarter.  It wasn’t until late in the fourth that we recaptured the lead.  Up 71-70 with just under 20 seconds to go, we made a defensive stop and were fouled.  With a time out, we advanced the ball to front court and ran a play for Abby Dixon (North Vancouver).  She quickly scored (much to the delight of the many family and friends on hand) to put us up 73-70.  TWU advanced the ball with a time out and ran an inbound play for their best 3-point shooter (and much to the dismay of me, they had a good look), but it bounced out and Liz Boag secured the rebound, was fouled, and finished the game hitting one of two foul shots to finish with the 74-70 win.  We don’t have complete stats from the game (technical difficulties), but Liz had a monster game, draining at least 4 3-pointers, and numerous drives.  Emily Hazlett had a very solid game with her usual defensive toughness and some great slashing drives to the hoop.  Robyn Pearson continued her stellar play around the rim and dropping 3 15-footers.

All in all, it was a great playing experience on the coast: 3 very different style teams gave us everything we could handle. I am quite pleased at how our team is playing at the moment.

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.

Up Next on the Road:
@ Carleton Tournament*
Friday, October 24 vs. Memorial  6pm
Saturday, October 25 vs. UQAM  6pm
Sunday, October 26 vs. Carleton  2pm
*Note: with the new league structure, these are our only games in Ottawa this season

Up Next at Home:
Saturday, November 1 vs. Ottawa  6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

We had a very successful and incredibly busy weekend.  We managed to win our Tindall Tournament, beating Acadia 74-43, Laval 75-58 and Thompson Rivers 76-59. 

We also had a fun and entertaining Alumni game on Saturday, followed by a reception which honoured team members from the 1990-91 to 1994-95 teams.  It was great to have the players back from those teams, including Tanya McIntyre, Angela Guse (von Richter), Stacey Moore (Goulding), Vicki Wilson, Talya McKenna (Barrie), Wendy Moon and Jaylene Morrison.  Jaylene spoke on behalf to the group, relating some very humourous stories, and bringing back many fond memories.

We held a Silent Auction in conjunction with the Alumni reception – thanks to all the parents and friends for their generous donations to the Auction Table, and generous support in purchasing the items.  Special thanks to Dianne Wright & Peggy Reid for all their help in organizing and running the event.

I am pleased with the progress of our team thus far.  We are a very deep team, allowing us to play up tempo.  In each of the three games, we outscored the opposition in the second half, having worn them down to some extent.  Our offensive execution had been fairly solid and we share the basketball very well.  Improvements need to come in our rebounding, floor communication, and secondary rotations.  Emily Hazlett was named a tournament All-star, with Jenny Wright capturing the tournament MVP.

Tournament Re-cap and Box Scores:


Up Next on the Road:

West Coast Swing (all times local)
Thursday, October 16 @ UBC 6pm
Friday, October 17 @ Fraser Valley 3pm
Saturday, October 18 @ Trinity Western 6pm

Carleton Tournament
Friday, October 24 vs.  Memorial 6pm
Saturday, October 25 vs. UQAM 6pm
Sunday, October 26 vs. Carleton 2pm

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Dave.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Women's Basketball - Game Report


Hi Folks,

We opened our exhibition schedule last week with a game against cross-town rivals, St. Lawrence College.

Queen’s 69 – St. Lawrence 62
It was a struggle right from the outset as St. Lawrence applied a fair amount of pressure, preventing us from gaining any rhythm on offense.  Shooting only 33% in the first half, we found ourselves trailing by 4 at the half, 24-28.  We opened the third quarter well and quickly erased the deficit and gained a 6 point advantage – an advantage we would hold through most of the rest of the game.  Jenny Wright led all scorers with 18 points, 8 rebounds & 2 steals.  Liz Boag added 14 points and 7 assists, while Andrea Priamo had 12 points and 7 boards.


Alumni Game/Reception & Tindall Tournament this weekend
If you have not already done so, please register for this weekend to get all these features for only $20:
·         Access to all 12 games (men’s & women’s Tindall Tournament)
·         Access to Reception & Silent Auction tables (Clark Hall)
·         Complimentary beverage & hors d’oeuvres at the Reception
·         Jaylene Morrison will speak on behalf of the 1990-95 teams

Register here:

Queen’s High School Tournament
We hosted the 29th Annual Tricolour High School tournament on the weekend.  Congratulations to Coach Fontaine of La Citadelle (Cornwall), capturing the Gold with a 38-31 victory over Jacob Hespeler SS (Cambridge).  John Paul II of London grabbed the Bronze Medal with a 47-45 overtime victory over Carleton Place HS.

Blue Chip Recruits
Two blue chip recruits have committed to Queen’s for the fall of 2015.  Full details will be forthcoming shortly.

Up Next at Home:
Friday, October 3 vs. Acadia 6pm (Main Gym)
Saturday, October 4  Alumni vs. Alumni 11am (Bartlett Gym)
Saturday, October 4  vs. Laval 2pm (Main Gym)
Sunday, October 5 vs. Thompson Rivers (Main Gym)

Have a great week!

Dave.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Women's Basketball - Update


Hi Folks,

As we are preparing for our first exhibition game next week, I thought I would bring you up-to-speed on a few details.

Liz Boag presents a gift to Queen’s Grad, Ontario Premier, Kathleen Wynne:


TORONTO (August 13, 2014) – Gaels women's basketball guard Liz Boag (Kingston, Ont.) got the chance to meet with and congratulate former Gael and now Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne Artsci'77, on her majority government win.

"Premier Wynne was very personable and down to earth," said Boag after meeting Ontario's newest Premier. "It was great to hear about her student experience and what it was like at Queen's along with her involvement as a member of the track team."

Boag was joined by Taylor Jennings, president of the Queen's student alumni association, as the two Queen's students congratulated Premier Wynne along with Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala with track jackets.

Wynne was a member of the varsity track team during her time at Queen's including being a co-captain.

My day with the Toronto Raptors' coaching staff and players:
On Monday, September 15th I had the opportunity to meet and discuss strategies with Toronto Raptor Head Coach, Dwane Casey, and his staff.  After a morning pre-practise meeting, the coaches and players took to the court for a 2 hour practise.  Coach Casey and I spent an hour talking strategy at the end of practise and followed that with another 4 hour session with the entire coaching staff.  Assistant coach, Tom Sterner was kind enough to spend another hour with me to further go over some strategies and tactics.  It was an incredible learning experience for me, and I can’t say enough about how accommodating, friendly and professional the entire group of coaches and players were.

Basketball Alumni Weekend (and Tindall Tournament) Update:

October 3-5 marks the Basketball Alumni weekend, held in conjunction with the Tindall Tournament.  We will be honouring team members from the 1990-91 to 1994-95 teams at a Reception and Silent Auction on Saturday afternoon.

Friday, October 3
6:00pm Queen’s vs. Acadia  (ARC Main Gym)

Saturday, October 4
11:00am Alumni vs. Alumni game (Bartlett Gym)*
2:00pm Queen’s vs. Laval (ARC Main Gym)*
4:30pm Reception & Silent Auction (Clark Hall)*
*note time change

Sunday, October 5
2:00pm Queen’s vs. Thompson Rivers

We have a special deal for the weekend by registering for the event - $20 will cover: 

·         Admission to all games (a $27 value)
·         Admission to Reception ($10 value)
·         Opportunity to bid on Silent Auction Items
·         Complimentary beverage ticket (for the reception)
·         Complimentary hors d’oeuvres at the reception

Please register at:

Up Next on the Road:
Thursday, September 25 @ St. Lawrence College  6pm

Up Next at Home:
Tindall Tournament – October 3-5

Have a great week.

Dave.

P.S. Big news on the recruiting front coming soon!