Gaels This Week – Basketball hosts Western Friday in Games of the Week, all varsity teams play at home this weekend, and women's basketball plays at the NBA All-Star weekend. Watch in person or on OUA.tv to catch the most Gaels action.

GAME OF THE WEEK 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

RECORD: 11-3	Last time out: W 69-51 vs. Lakehead	STREAK: Won 2
WHO'S HOT?: Robyn Pearson - Earned a pair of double-doubles last weekend, highlighted by a 20-point, 15-rebound game versus Guelph

 

In addition to their Saturday showcase against Windsor at the NBA All-Star weekend, the Gaels women's basketball team (11-3) hosts the Western Mustangs (12-3) on Friday at 6pm in the Game of the Week in the ARC main gym. Queen's enters Friday's game on a two-game winning streak, having beaten Guelph and Lakehead at home last weekend. Robyn Pearson (Toronto) had double-doubles in the Gaels back-to-back wins, scoring 20 points and 15 rebounds against Guelph before ending the Lakehead game with 10 boards and 10 points. Abby Dixon (North Vancouver) also tallied a double-double against Lakehead, sinking 15 points to go with 11 rebounds. Saturday night's matchup against Lakehead was also the Gaels annual Shoot for the Cure game, at which the Queen's women's basketball team helped raise $5,700. The Mustangs, who sit atop the OUA West, are riding a nine-game winning streak as they make the trip to Kingston. Western most recently beat Nipissing and Laurentian at home last weekend. Mackenzie Puklicz has the hot hand for the Mustangs this season, leading all OUA scorers with 19.1 points per game. Against Nipissing, Puklicz showcased her scoring ability, netting a game-high 24 points in the Western win. The Gaels home game starts at 6pm on Friday in the ARC main gym. You can get tickets for this and other upcoming games here.

NBA ALL-STAR SHOWCASE The Queen's women's basketball team (11-3) battles the No.10 Windsor Lancers (11-4) at 4:30pm on Saturday as part of the NBA All-Star weekend festivities at the Enercare Centre in Toronto. Purchase tickets to this NBA Centre Court event here. The Gaels, tied atop the OUA East, and Lancers, second in the OUA West, have yet to play in 2015-16. When the teams met last season, Windsor won 89-81 at home, with Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) of the Gaels leading all scorers with 21 points. After losing back-to-back games for the first time this year, Queen's bounced back last weekend with a pair of wins at home, in which Robyn Pearson (Toronto) recorded two double-doubles on points and rebounds. Windsor enters this weekend on a four-game winning streak, most recently beating Nipissing and Laurentian at home. In their last two home wins, the Lancers outscored their opponents 48-20 in the first quarter. Windsor's leading scorer, Emily Prevost has double-doubles on points and rebounds in four straight games, and is second in OUA rebounding to Pearson of Queen's.

 

Jenny Wright & @queensgaels take on @WindsorLancers Saturday as part of #NBAAllStarWeekend. Visit OUA.ca for info! pic.twitter.com/P32x90PvtX

— OUA (@OUAsport) February 10, 2016

GAME OF THE WEEK
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Gaels men's basketball team (9-5) plays in the ARC main gym at 8pm on Friday against the Western Mustangs (8-7) in the Game of the Week and again at 8pm on Saturday versus the Windsor Lancers (9-6).

Queen's started their four-game home stand with a pair of wins last weekend against Guelph and Lakehead. In the Gaels 93-81 victory over Guelph, Queen's jumped exploded offensively in the first quarter, using an 18-0 run en route to 36-17 lead after 10 minutes of play. Tanner Graham (Kingston, Ont.) scored 13 of his total 17 points during the Gaels first-quarter run. With 24 points against Guelph, Sukhpreet Singh (Toronto) continued to lead the Queen's attack. Singh bested himself against Lakehead, scoring a game-high 36 points in the Gaels second straight win. With 99 points in his last three games, Singh moves into second in OUA scoring with 23.3 points per game behind only Western's Greg Morrow.

The Mustangs enter Friday's game on a four-game winning streak, most recently beating Nipissing and Laurentian at home. Morrow scored a season-high 34 points in Western's 75-43 win over Nipissing. When the Gaels played the Mustangs in the 2014-15 season, Queen's topped Western 75-74 on a last-second score from Singh. This season, the Mustangs sit second in the OUA West, just one game back of Windsor.

The Lancers are also winners of their last four games, topping Laurentian 82-62 and Nipissing 93-71 last weekend. Alex Campbell continued his standout season for Windsor, scoring 51 points in their last two wins. Campbell is third in OUA scoring behind Singh and Morrow. The Lancers were 93-86 winners when they last squared off with the Gaels during the 2014-15 season.

Both Gaels home games start at 8pm on Friday in the ARC main gym. You can get tickets for these and other upcoming games here. 

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
The Queen's women's volleyball team (9-7) hosts the Ottawa Gee-Gees (10-6) in the ARC main gym at 1pm on Saturday in their lone game this weekend.

Last weekend, the Gaels also played a solitary game when they beat Brock 3-1 on the road. After going down a set, Shannon Neville (Cambridge, Ont.) and Shannon Hopkins (North Vancouver) powered Queen's to victory, picking up 14 and 13.5 points, respectively. While Neville and Hopkins were the only players in the match to pick up double-digit scoring on offense, Becky Wilson (Pickering, Ont.) and Caroline Livingston (Kelowna, B.C.) joined Neville with 10 digs for the Gaels defensively.

Ottawa played a pair of home games last weekend, with mixed results. The Gee-Gees lost 3-0 to No.3 Toronto before beating Ryerson in five sets. Caroline Lemay led Ottawa's attack in the last two games, with seven kills against Toronto and 16 kills in the win over Ryerson. Lemay and Hopkins were the only two players to reach double-digit kills when Queen's lost 3-0 at Ottawa to start the season. With only a few games remaining in their regular season schedules, the Gaels sit fourth in the OUA East, just one game behind the Gee-Gees in third.

The Gaels home game starts at 1pm on Saturday in the ARC main gym. You can get tickets for this and other upcoming games here. 

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
The No.10 Gaels men's volleyball team (12-5) plays a pair of 3pm home games in the ARC main gym this weekend, battling the Western Mustangs (9-8) on Saturday and the Windsor Lancers (6-10) on Sunday.

Queen's beat Guelph 3-0 before falling 3-1 to No.10 Waterloo in their two road games last weekend. Against Guelph, Chris Brunet (Calgary) recorded a career-high 14 points for the Gaels on 11 kills, two aces, and two assisted blocks. Mike Tomlinson had 12 kills against Guelph and 13 kills against Waterloo, while setter Jamie Wright (Kingston, Ont.) recorded 34 assists in each game. Marco Dakic (Mississauga, Ont.) put up a team-high 14 kills in the loss to Waterloo.

The Mustangs were 3-1 winners in both of their home games last weekend against York and Nipissing. Western's leading scorer Zeid Hamadeh made his mark on the scoresheet in the Mustangs two wins, hitting 14 kills against Nipissing and a game-high 15 kills versus York. Western, who are six points behind the Gaels in the OUA standings, lost in straight sets when they visited Queen's in November.

Windsor, who sit eighth in the OUA, six points behind Western, have started a three-game winning streak, the longest of their 2015-16 season. Nipissing and York were the Lancers most recent victims, as Windsor beat their opponents in four and five sets, respectively. As a team, the Lancers offense is second worst in the OUA, but Josh Edwards and Brad Gyemi have proved themselves dynamic attacking partners. Edwards had double-digit kills in both wins last weekend for Windsor and boasts the best hitting percentage in the OUA, while Gyemi had a game-high 20 kills against Nipissing and a team-high 15 kills in the win over York. The Gaels were victorious in a 3-1 match when the Lancers came to Kingston in November.

Both home games start at 3pm in the ARC main gym. You can get tickets for these and other upcoming games here. 

WOMEN'S HOCKEY
The Gaels women's hockey team (10-2-6-2) plays a pair of home games against the Ryerson Rams (3-0-16-1) on Saturday and the No.4 Toronto Varsity Blues (10-3-4-3) on Sunday. Puck-drop is set for 3:30pm at the Invista Centre for both home games.

For the third weekend in a row, Queen's split their two games, losing 3-2 at Nipissing before beating Laurentian 3-0 on the road last Friday and Saturday. The last time the Gaels were able to win two games in one weekend was back in October when Laurentian and Nipissing visited Kingston. In the recent loss to Nipissing, Katrina Manoukarakis (Scarborough, Ont.) scored her OUA-leading seventh power-play goal of the season for Queen's. The Gaels special teams are one of their strengths this season, as they have the most power-play goals scored, and the fewest power-play goals against. Goalie Caitlyn Lahonen, who has started every game for Queen's in all 20 games of the current campaign, recorded her fifth shutout and 12th win of the year with 30 saves against Laurentian.

Ryerson, the last place team in the OUA, is fresh off their third win of the season, defeating Brock 5-1 last Saturday. Blair Multhaner moved into a tie for the team-lead in points with a three-point night in the Rams victory, scoring twice and adding one assist. As a team, Ryerson is plagued by the OUA's least productive offense, with just 24 goals through 20 games. The Rams also have to be wary of taking penalties, as they have the second highest PIM in the OUA. The Gaels scored a power-play goal en route to a 2-0 shutout of Ryerson when the teams met in October.

Toronto beat Ryerson and Waterloo last weekend to extend their winning streak to five games. Jessica Robichaud scored four points between the two games to lead the Varsity Blues to victory. Taylor Day and Sonja Weidenfelder lead Toronto's offense with 19 and 18 points, respectively, and three game-winning goals apiece so far this season. In October, the Varsity Blues needed a shootout to beat the Gaels, who now sit just three points behind third place Toronto in the OUA standings.

Both Gaels home games start at 3:30pm at the Invista Centre. You can get tickets for these and other upcoming games here. 

MEN'S HOCKEY
The Queen's men's hockey team (16-7-2) closes out the regular season with three games this week, starting tonight at the RMC Paladins (3-20-3) at 7pm. The Gaels host the Nipissing Lakers (11-12-3) on Friday and the Laurentian Voyageurs (7-14-5) on Saturday at the Invista Centre, with both home games starting at 7:30pm.

The Gaels earned five of a possible six points from their three games last week, beginning 6-2 win over RMC in the 30th Carr-Harris Cup. Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) netted a hat trick in the victory, earning himself MVP honours for the game. Ming had a four-point night against Waterloo, including the first assist on the game-tying goal with 20 seconds left in regulation and the double-overtime goal to win 5-4. Ming picked up his eighth point of the week as an assist in Queen's 4-3 shootout loss to Laurier. 

After RMC lost the Carr-Harris Cup to Queen's, the Paladins were obliterated in a 13-0 loss to No.2 UQTR and then lost 7-4 Concordia. Scott Domenico scored one of RMC's goals against Queen's last week, and added a pair of assists in the loss to Concordia.

Nipissing picked up a big 4-1 win over No.9 Carleton last weekend, before falling 8-1 to the powerhouse UQTR. In the victory, Erik Robichaud, Colin Campbell, and Craig Campbell recorded a goal and an assist each. Sitting sixth in the OUA East behind Queen's and UOIT, the Lakers will be unable to move up the standings, despite their remaining games being against UOIT and the Gaels. Queen's beat Nipissing last month in a 3-1 decision.

The Voyageurs played just one game last weekend, losing 4-0 to Carleton at home. Laurentian goalie Alain Valiquette faced 38 shots in the loss. Through 26 games played, the Voyageurs have only managed 65 goals for, which is second lowest in the OUA. Laurentian hosted Queen's in January, when the Gaels came away with a 3-2 victory.

Both home games start at 7:30pm at the Invista Centre. You can get tickets for these and other upcoming games here. 
 

THREE STARS OF THE WEEK

HOME GAMES
ROAD GAMES