KINGSTON, Ont. (January 28, 2017)- The Queen's Gaels women's basketball team picked up its 14th straight conference victory on Saturday evening at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC), defeating the Laurentian Voyageurs 68-43.
 
Abby Dixon and Andrea Priamo each tallied 11 points, while Veronika Lavergne added 10 points and seven rebounds for Queen's, who held the Voyageurs to just 14 points and an 18.5% shooting percentage in the second half.
 
The U SPORTS No. 4 ranked Gaels (14-0) maintain their unblemished conference record, while the Voyageurs fall to 3-12.
 

MUST SEE - Holt dishes to Priamo for an easy two! Gaels are in control vs @LUVoyageurs watch it on https://t.co/9xTOznwjCF #GoGaelsGo pic.twitter.com/mKfthQGt1I

— #ChaGheill (@queensgaels) January 29, 2017

 
GAME FLOW
After the visitors took a 20-19 lead through the opening 10 minutes of play, the Gaels held Laurentian to just 10 points in the second period, denying them any baskets in the final two and a half minutes of the half.
 
The Gaels' bigs carried the women through the first half, as Lavergne (Ottawa), Priamo (Guelph, Ont.), Myriam Fontaine (Cornwall, Ont.), and Robyn Pearson (Toronto) combined for 25 points and 16 rebounds, while the perimeter struggled as Queen's went 1-of-11 from distance.
 
Dixon (North Vancouver, B.C.) poked the ball loose from the Laurentian player, and scooped it up for an easy lay-up as time expired in the second quarter, giving the Gaels a 34-29 lead at halftime.
 
Dixon came out firing in the second half, picking up seven points in the first three minutes of the third to push the Gael advantage up to 10. Queen's continued to clamp down on the defensive side of the ball, holding the Voyageurs to nine points in the quarter to build a 14-point advantage heading into the fourth.
 
The women continued to build their healthy lead in the final period, while continuing to stymie Laurentian's offensive sets. The Gaels held the guests to just six points in the fourth, en route to their seventh home victory.  
 
FINAL SAY
"Our depth is the best I've ever had in my coaching career, and each of the players we have dressed bring a different element to the game. Today we had favourable match-ups for Katharina Holt and Megan Saftich, both of them, this game suits them and you could see how well they played today. It's great for us to have this opportunity to compliment certain styles of play with different sets of players, which allows us to be effective.
 
"Our second and third quarter our defense got in tune with what we were supposed to be doing than the first. We decided rather than pressure the ball as much as we did in the first that we would gap off the ball carrier and tighten up on the wings, to see if we could stop the ball that way, which gave them difficulty in their offense later in the game"
 
BY THE NUMBERS
43- The Gaels limited Laurentian to 43 points on Saturday, the fewest they have given up in conference play
7- Katharina Holt (Tiny, Ont.) picked up seven points in the win, here second-highest offensive total of the season
27- The Queen's bench picked up 27 points compared to six from the Voyageurs
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels hit the road for their final road trip of the season next weekend when they take on Ryerson and Toronto. The women host Carleton and Ottawa on February 10 and 11, before concluding conference play at home against York on February 17.