Women’s basketball beats Eagles
By Eric Wilkins, Sports Editor
On January 17, the women’s basketball team hosted the Kwantlen Eagles. Coming into the game the Royals were holding onto sixth and needing a win to create some separation between themselves and the seventh-placed Eagles. They got the job done, taking home the “W” with a 60-39 scoreline.
“At this point in the year any win is going to be big for us. We’re just looking to build game by game and we’ve put together a couple back to back so we’ll continue that tomorrow,” said coach Courtney Gerwing.
The Royals sent out Chloe Kennedy, Shanice Fuoco-Guy, Garaline Tom, Lauren Sollero, and Jettie McLaughlin to start the game—and what a start they got off to. After Kwantlen took the first point of the game off a free throw, Douglas would keep the visitors off the board for over four minutes while scoring 11 of their own—highlighted by a steal at half by Fuoco-Guy that she took to the house for an easy layup. Kwantlen tried to get some momentum going near the end of the quarter, but Douglas was up to the task, finishing the first 10 minutes up 16-8. The second quarter scoring was started by Adelia Paul driving hard along the baseline before putting it up and in. Kwantlen continued to struggle against the dominant Royals for the rest of the half, heading into the break down 27-14.
Douglas started the second half almost exactly as they started the first, scoring 10 unanswered before the Eagles got anything going. The visitors tried to find some momentum shortly after, scoring on three successive possessions, before Simran Bir put a damper on things by draining a three from downtown. At the end of the third it was still the Royals on top 47-28. The result was all but decided heading into the fourth, but the hosts didn’t take their foot off the pedal—keeping a large cushion for the duration of the game, and finishing on a trio of threes, one from Sollero and two from Bir.
Still riding high off of last week’s win, Sarah “Stickbug” Jorgenson commented on the importance of recent games: “Last week was a huge win for us against Cap because they beat us. We’ve beaten Kwantlen before… but honestly, every win helps.”
Coach Gerwing was also pleased with the group and spoke to how she’s settling in: “It’s fun. I really enjoy it. The girls are good. We’re working hard. We’ve moved practices to mornings. There’s a couple changes I’ve brought in that they’ve responded really well to and it’s been a great group to join midway through. I couldn’t have asked for a better group to join.
The players’ clearly appreciate their new coach as well: “We definitely work on defence a lot more and I think that’s helping us,” said Jorgenson.
“She brings a different perspective to the team for sure. A lot more intense,” added Bir with a smile.
