KINGSTON, Ont. (November 21, 2015)- The Queen's Gaels (4-1) women's basketball team had its regular season winning streak snapped at four games on Saturday evening at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC), falling to the CIS No. 7 ranked Brock Badgers (3-1) 69-50.
 
Emily Hazlett (Fredericton) and Abby Dixon (North Vancouver, B.C.) each tallied 13 points, while Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) added 11 in a losing cause for the Gaels, who drop to 4-1 on the season. Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.) added 10 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
 
Kate Harpur notched a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Badgers, who built an impressive lead with a potent third quarter after the teams went into halftime even; a lead which proved insurmountable for the Gaels. Brock improves to 3-1 on the year with the victory.
 
GAME FLOW
Priamo picked up the game's first four points with consecutive lay-ins to give the hosts an early lead. The Guelph, Ont. native then drove the lane and kicked the ball out to Abby Dixon (North Vancouver, B.C.), who sank a three-pointer while being fouled. Dixon converted her free-throw, spreading the Gael advantage.
 
Kira Cornelissen helped the Badgers keep pace with seven points in the opening quarter. And after turning the ball over four times in the opening minutes of the contest, Brock settled into the game and managed to cut the lead down to a single point. Alexandra Symonds then proceeded to knock in a three-pointer of her own to give the visitors their first lead. The advantage was short lived, however, as Dixon found the basket from beyond the arc once again, putting Queen's slightly ahead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The half took a chippy turn early in the second quarter, as the teams traded four-straight turnovers. Hazlett made a nice move on her drive to the basket, going behind the back and up for a stylish lay-in to help pace the Gael offence. With the rest of her team quieting down offensively in the first few minutes of the quarter, the Fredericton, N.B. native tried to pick up the slack, draining a corner three to keep Queen's ahead for the time being.
 
Harpur took the reins of the Badger offence in the latter stages of the half, however, tallying six points in a row to level the match at 26-26 heading into the half-time break.  
 
The Badgers then came out firing to open the second half, hitting eight of their first 10 shots in the third quarter. An 18-4 run allowed the guests to jump out to a 14-point advantage, leading to a timeout by Gaels coach Dave Wilson.
 
The Badger wave did not stop, however, as Aryn Finley nailed a three-pointer, which was quickly followed by a three-point play by Jenalyn Lumol after a Gaels turnover, pushing the lead up to 21. By the time the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter, the Badgers had notched 28 points and the Gaels faced a 17-point deficit.
 
Dixon attempted to get the Gaels back in the match with a three early in the fourth, but Kayla Santilli answered with a basket from beyond the arc in transition to maintain Brock's spread. Her teammate Finley knocked down her second three of the match on the Badgers next possession, and Cornelissen picked up a lay-up bucket following that, pushing the lead back over 20, which proved more than enough to pick up the win.
 
The Gaels shot 30.3% from the floor on Saturday, compared to 43.5% from the Badgers, who also outrebounded Queen's 47-36.
 
FINAL SAY
"The adjustments that Brock made to our ball-screen defence really made it difficult for us to counter some of their options," said Wilson. "If we took away their first option, they were able to move to something else. And the size that they have with their posts, particularly with the fact that they can shoot the ball well, it gave us a lot of trouble."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
21- Brock's largest lead, which was at the 2:07 mark of the third quarter
20- The total amount of field goals made for the Gaels, compared to 27 from Brock
57.1- The Badgers field-goal percentage in the third quarter
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels wrap up their pre-holiday schedule on the road next weekend, when they travel to Laurier and Waterloo.