KINGSTON, Ont. (October 27, 2017) - The Queen's Gaels (1-0) women's basketball team opened their season at home on Friday night at the ARC taking down Lakehead (0-1) 77-61.
GAME FLOW:
Coming into the 2017-18 season with a lot of momentum after a successful 2016-17 campaign, the Gaels team hope to replicate the success of last year, where they went undefeated in the regular season and finished fourth in the USPORTS championship.
Queen's had to shake off some rust early as they were slow to start. Lakehead was on the ball early, out-rebounding the Gaels on the glass, allowing for second chance points and fast break opportunities. The Gaels weren't able to score a basket until, mid-way through the first frame. After being down 7-0, Queen's managed to take their first lead off of big buckets from
Marianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont.) and
Veronika Lavergne (Ottawa, Ont).
Lakehead closed out the quarter with a one point, 19-18 lead over the Gaels.
Queen's started the second quarter on a hot-streak outscoring Lakehead 19-10 in a high scoring frame.
Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.) had the hot hand, scoring a pair of buckets and a three-pointer midway through the quarter. This jolt gave Queen's their largest lead in the game to that point. Closing the half, the Gaels played their best defence, finishing hard on the boards opening up their own fast break opportunities. The Gaels turned the table in the second quarter and opened up a 48-33 lead heading into the second half.
The Tricolour got off to a fast start in the third, and the Thunderwolves could not keep up. Alarie shined, scoring 11 points in the frame including a big triple from beyond the arc to pad their lead even further. Nothing was given down-low, but the Gaels managed to find success with their jump shot. Alarie headed into the fourth with 16 points to lead Queen's offensively.
The fourth quarter started with both teams exchanging baskets. Lakehead outscored Queen's throughout the final stanza, but it was too little too late for the visiting team as the Gaels held on for a 77-61 victory.
BY THE NUMBERS:
21-
Marianne Alarie lead the team in points with 21 points
23 - Both #23's played well with Lakehead's Grant finishing with a double-double and the Gaels
Maddie Morris scoring seven while hauling down a team-high 11 boards
6 - Assists for
Emma Ritcey
18 - Points off of turnovers for the Gaels compared to just 10 for Lakehead
FINAL SAY
"I think she is going to be a part of an offence that's going to use different ways to score. We have players like Priamo or Lavergne up front so there are games where they'll be the focal point. We can score inside or out, and it depends on who we get as an opponent."
-Head Coach Dave WIlson
UP NEXT
The McMaster Mauraders come to Kingston on November 3 at 6 pm. For tickets head to www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets, or you can watch the game online at OUA.tv.
