KINGSTON, Ont. (January 27, 2018) - The No. 9 Queen's Gaels (15-3) walked away with a dominant win over the Nipissing Lakers (2-15), on Shoot for the Cure Night at the ARC.
Members of the women's basketball team and Gaels community participated in a "Cuts for Cancer" hair donation during halftime of each the women's and men's game. To donate in support of Shoot for the Cure and Cuts for Cancer
click here.
GAME FLOW
Gaels opened the game, firing on all cylinders.
Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.) knocked down a reverse layup, followed by a triple by
Marianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont.). The Gaels looked to play fast and drive to the basket with any opportunity they could get.
Veronika Lavergne (Ottawa), who scored seven points in the first, found
Sarah Saftich (Markham, Ont.) for a quick three-pointer giving the Gaels a big early lead. Both teams were passing well, and playing aggressively but the Gaels used their size and bullied their way into the paint, leaving the opening quarter with a 25-12 lead.
The focus for the Gaels in the second was, once again, to attack the paint. Early layups were scored by Priamo,
Abby Dixon (North Vancouver, B.C.), and
Myriam Fontaine (Cornwall, Ont.). The Tricolour were also playing excellent defence, not allowing a point by the Lakers for the first four minutes. The Lakers started to put together a scoring run, but the Gaels quickly gathered themselves and got back on the board with points by
Maddie Morris (Seeley's Bay, Ont.) and Andriana Conti (Cornwall, Ont).
Lavergne started the second half by getting a big block, but the Lakers would still get the first points of the frame. Dixon, who leads the OUA in steals, racked up another one and took it all the way in for a layup. Both teams were a little sluggish, with constant turnovers and missed shots. The Gaels turned up the energy, with a full-court press on defence. The Lakers were still able to get down the court, but the Gaels got aggressive again and managed to get some free-throws and make layups, which kept their lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Gaels opened the fourth with a 7-0 run. The Tricolour capitalized on turnovers, and poor offensive possessions by the Lakers. With five minutes left, and Queen's leading by 20, the Gaels just took care of the basketball and walked away with the win.
The final score of the game was Queen's 75 and Nipissing 51.
BY THE NUMBERS
15-
Veronika Lavergne led the Gaels in points with 15
4-
Abby Dixon was the anchor on defence, recording four steals
57- Excellent rebound effort by the Gaels, as they recorded 57 boards
200 - Dixon hit the 200 mark for career steals and now sits at 201 in her career
FINAL SAY
" Our game plan was to execute the basic things well, and I didn't think we did a very good job of that. The exception to this I would say would be the work of
Abby Dixon's defence. I thought she generated a lot of offence based on the pressure she applied on the number of steals she got." - Head Coach David Wilson
UP NEXT
The Gaels are on the road at York next weekend on Feb 2nd at 6 pm. Catch all the action live on OUA.tv.
