Womenâs basketball team goes 1-1
By Davie Wong, Sports Reporter
The womenâs basketball team is off to a strong start in their 2015-16 campaign. They started the season with a win and came home looking for two more.
Their week started on Friday, when they played the visiting VIU Mariners in the first of their 2 games. The Mariners, who were also coming off a huge win against Camosun in the last week, came out playing physically, fouling three times while causing the Royals to foul five times with their consistent driving. Chances went back and forth as the teams traded baskets, ending the quarter tied at 17.
The second quarter was not as close for the Royals as the Mariners went on a 19-point tear. Their stellar defensive play kept the Royals to just 9 points in that quarter, and a total of 10 points down going into halftime. The situation did not get any better for the Royals after the break. During the third quarter, VIU scored 26 while only allowing 10 points on defence as the Royals struggled to hit shots from outside of the paint.
However the women did not give up; staging an exciting fourth quarter surge that unfortunately fell flat. They had simply given up too many points during the middle of the game to have much of a chance rallying for a comeback. The Mariners took the game with a final score of 72-50.
The action started back up again the following afternoon as the visiting Camosun Chargers took on the Royals at home. The Chargers, who were also coming off a loss, were not expected to win this matchup against the Royals. Despite losing against VIU the previous day, the Royals showed signs of brilliance. Sadly for the Chargers, that brilliance carried over to their matchup.
The story of the Royals defence was really the highlight in the first of half the game. They were able to limit the Chargers to only 11 points by pressuring them and causing them to miss shots. The turnovers that were forced as a result of defensive pressure helped a lacklustre Royals offence convert easier. Going into halftime, they held a 13 point lead.
It was expected that the Chargers would come out much more composed than they looked in the first half. That prediction proved sound as they came out and nearly doubled their points in a tight third quarter struggle that saw both teams converting chances well. During the fourth quarter the Royals looked especially shaky; giving up 18 points. If not for the Chargers disastrous first half, the Royals would likely not have picked up the win. But because of that, the Royals were able to hold on, 50-39.
In a more difficult than anticipated week for the team, Coach Courtney Gerwing was less than pleased with her teamâs effort and was not shy to make it known. âWe didnât do anything we practiced [for VIU]. They didnât do anything that we didnât anticipateâ.
Looking forward, Gerwing also spoke on how she will be preparing for the next two games. âI donât think we shot well anywhere. Our shot selection wasnât good and we intend to improve on that. Part of that has to do with how tough we are. We need to get tougher inside and change the mentality to bring more energy to our game.â
The women look to continue their success next week at home as they take on Quest University, who have gone undefeated so far, and the Langara Falcons, who are part of the four-way tie with a 2-1 record. Fridayâs game against Quest starts at 6 p.m. while Saturdayâs game against Langara starts at 5 p.m.
