TORONTO (February 22, 2011) – The Queen's Gaels women's basketball team roll into the 2010-11 OUA playoffs riding a four game winning streak and will face the Ryerson Rams in the east divisional quarter-final on Wednesday.

Tipoff is set for 6:00pm at Kerr Hall Gym on campus at Ryerson University in Toronto.

After struggling out of the gate, Queen's looks to be back on track recording a four game winning streak to close the season with the Gaels earning a 7-15 record and the fifth place in the OUA East. Ryerson on the other hand finished with a 10-12 record and lost their final two games of the season to finish fourth in the east.

Both teams match up well against each the teams trading wins on home courts in the season series. Queen's lost to the Rams in overtime 74-64 on January 21st in Toronto, but started their current winning streak against the Rams on February 5 with a 62-61 squeaker at home.

Head-to-head Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont., is the Gaels top player against the Rams this season averaging 25 points in both matches while Ryerson's Ashley MacDonald of Port Colborne, Ont., averaged 24.

Ryerson has two offensive threats to watch for. MacDonald is their top scorer averaging 16.9 points per game while Kelsey Wright of Brampton, Ont., averages 13.7.

Moore leads Queen's offence with 16.5 points per game, but the emergence of Gemma Bullard of Guelph, Ont., over the past five games should not be discredited. Bullard, in her rookie season, has averaged 12 points in the Gaels winning streak and closed the season with four of five games scoring over 10 points or more. Bullard also helped pace the Gaels with a career high 21 points in just her second outing in the CIS on November 6th.

Kingston's Liz Boag will also provide an offensive spark for the Gaels. The first year guard from La Salle Secondary is having a standout rookie campaign, having started all but two games for Queen's in 2010-11. She averaged 9.1 points per game for the Gaels and led the team making 39.8% of her three-pointers.

Wright is Ryerson's top three-point producer dropping 36.9% of all shots she takes behind the arc.

Queen's is a far better rebounding team ranking 16th in the nation while Ryerson is 36th. For the Gaels to be successful they will need to continue that trend and dominate the boards.

Fifth-year senior Jill Wheat of Marwayne, Alta., will be a pivotal player in this strategy ranking 18th among the nation's leaders in rebounding.

Alexandrea Tkaczyk of Cambridge, Ont., is one of two threats in rebounding for the Rams ranking 43rd in the nation while Angela Tilk of Welland, Ont., ranks 68th.

While the Gaels have advanced to the playoffs for the last 13 seasons, they have been without a playoff win since 2006-07. That year they edged the Laurentian Lady Vees 64-58 before bowing out to the York Lions in the East divisional semifinal.

Queen's is a young squad with nothing to lose to change that trend and make some noise in the OUA playoffs.

The Gaels have just 7 of a 13 player roster who are in their first year of eligibility and 10 of 13 who are in their first two seasons of eligibility. Only Moore (4th), Wheat (5th) and injured forward Christine Wallace of North Gower, Ont., were on the Gaels roster when Queen's won its last playoff game.

A win will place the Gaels into the OUA East Semi-Final against either Toronto or Windsor on Saturday, February 26th. York will battle Ottawa in the other OUA East quarterfinal game on Wednesday.


WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
WHAT: OUA East Division Quarter-Final
WHO: Queen's (7-15) vs. Ryerson (11-12)
WHERE: Kerr Hall Gymnasium, Ryerson University
TIPOFF: 6:00pm
WEBCAST: www.ustream.tv/channel/ryerson-athletics

TEAM PROFILE: Queen's Gaels
Head Coach: Dave Wilson (24th Season)
Regular season record: 7-15 (.318%)
Regular season standing: 5th place (OUA East Division)
Home Record: 5-6
Away Record: 2-9
Streak: Won 4
Last 10: 4-6
Pts per game: 60.3
FG%: 33.5%
3PT%: 32.9
FT%: 69.2%
Reb per game: 39.0
Ast. Per game: 11.0
Top Scorer: Brittany Moore, 16.5 ppg
Top 3-Pointer Shooter: Liz Boag, 35-88 39.8
Top Rebounder: Jill Wheat 164/7.5 rpg (53 Offensive, 111 Defensive)
Playmaker: Liz Boag – 64 assists

National Ranks
FG made per game: 37th (20.5)
FG attempts per game: 29th (61.0)
FG Pct: 37th (33.5)
3PT made per game: 14th (5.7)
3PT attempts per game: 17th (17.4)
3PT Pct: 12th (32.9)
FT made per game: 15th (13.7)
FT attempt per game: 15th (19.8)
FT Pct: 14th (69.2)
Off rebounds per game: 29th (12.0)
Def rebounds per game: 6th (27.0)
Total rebounds per game: 16th (39.0)
Assists per game: 35th (11.0)
Turnovers per game: 14th (21.3)
Steals per game: 34th (8.2)
Blocks per game: 20th (2.2)
Personal fouls per game: 6th (19.2)
Points per game: 34th (60.3)


TEAM PROFILE: Ryerson Rams
Head Coach: Charles Kissi (2nd Season)
Regular season record: 10-12 (.455%)
Regular season standing: 4th place (OUA East Division)
Home Record: 6-5
Away Record: 4-7
Streak: Lost 2
Last 10: 7-3
Pts per game: 60.2
FG%: 34.3%
3PT%: 29.9
FT%: 69.1%
Reb per game: 33.0
Ast. Per game: 9.5
Top Scorer: Ashley MacDonald, 16.9 ppg
Top 3-Pointer Shooter: Kelsey Wright, 45-122 36.9
Top Rebounder: Alexandrea Tkaczyk 130/6.8 rpg (66 Offensive, 64 Defensive)
Playmaker: Ashley Clarke – 74 assists

National Ranks
FG made per game: 34th (21.3)
FG attempts per game: 23rd (62.2)
FG Pct: 34th (34.3)
3PT made per game: 13th (5.9)
3PT attempts per game: 11th (19.8)
3PT Pct: 24th (29.9)
FT made per game: 31st (11.7)
FT attempt per game: 33rd (16.9)
FT Pct: 16th (69.1)
Off rebounds per game: 28th (12.1)
Def rebounds per game: 38th (21.4)
Total rebounds per game: 36th (33.5)
Assists per game: 39th (9.5)
Turnovers per game: 27th (19.1)
Steals per game: 16th (10.6)
Blocks per game: 42nd (0.8)
Personal fouls per game: 15th (18.0)
Points per game: 35th (60.2)