Queen's defence stymies No.10 Lancers, Gaels take NBA All-Star Showcase game 60-41

KINGSTON, Ont.  (February 13, 2016) – The Queen's Gaels (13-3) defeated the five-time defending CIS women's basketball champion No.10 Windsor Lancers (12-5) 60-41 at NBA Centre Court at the Enercare Centre in Toronto as part of the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities.

Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.) took home player of the game honours for Queen's thanks to a 12 point and 10 rebound performance while Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) led all scorers with 14 points while adding eight rebounds of her own. The Lancers were led by Cheyanne Roger and Carly Steer who each had 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
GAME FLOW
Both teams took a bit of time to adjust to the setting and court but it was Windsor who was able to get on the board first to lead 2-0. The Gaels responded as Robyn Pearson (Toronto) picked up her first rebound of the game and put a shot in off the glass to even the score.

The Lancers heated up and strung together a six point run from there. Nicole Morse (Cottam, Ont.) checked into the game for the Gaels and got to the line hitting one of two attempts to halt the run.

After another Lancer bucket it was Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) who started to take over. Wright responded with a three from the corner then after a defensive stop Wright hit another three for Queen's to make it just a three point deficit 12-9.

Neither team could connect from there and the quarter finished up with Queen's trailing by just three.

Wright stayed hot to start the second quarter as she nailed her third consecutive three on the Gaels opening possession to tie the game 12-12.

The defensive battle continued on as over three minutes went by with only six points scored between both teams.

The Gaels started to get their offence working after Wright hit one of two free throws and Priamo followed with a quick shot for two from the paint. The Gaels then secured a transition bucket from Pearson off a jumper to take the lead 20-17.

The Gaels defence stymied the Lancers and they suffered a shot clock violation for the second time in the game. Queen's was able to turn it into points as Emily Hazlett (Fredericton, N.B.) went up and under the basket for two. She followed up by connecting on a jumper giving the Gaels a seven point lead.

Shooting cooled in the second for the Lancers as they shot just 21.9% from the floor. Queen's took a 24-19 lead into halftime.
 
The Lancers scored first in the second half but offensive rebounds by Queen's set up a Priamo bucket from the paint to make it 26-21. Pearson hauled in a defensive board and another quick transition gave Priamo another bucket.

Windsor narrowed the gap to just one point at 30-29 and had a chance to take the lead but could not. Hazlett was fouled and hit one of her two shots before getting her own rebound. Wright then dished inside to Priamo in the paint for two to make it 33-29. The Gaels closed out the quarter as Hazlett nailed a jumper and just like that the lead was back up to six.

Another shot clock violation by Windsor started out the fourth. Hazlett picked up a steal on a clean break and pushed the lead to eight. Dixon followed shortly after as she nailed a three and just like that it was 40-29 Queen's.

From there the Gaels pushed their lead even further to 15. Priamo hauled in an offensive board and put back another two but Steer responded with two of her own making it 50-38 Gaels with 2:33 remaining.

Caitlyn Longmuir nailed a deep three for the Lancers cutting the deficit back down to single digits. Wright pushed down court for a lay in making in 11 with 2:06 left.

The Queen's defence proved to be too much from there as they picked apart Lancer turnovers by putting up easy buckets and closing out the game with the 60-41 victory.
 
FINAL SAY
"I'm really proud with how the players came out in the second half and dominated the play. It's has been the style of play (tough defence) that we have had all year, we've gone to a little bit more pressure on the perimeters and I think that's worked really well for us and today was probably one of our best defensive efforts overall. I think it's been an awesome experience for our players to be in here and meet some of the NBA legends, the activities and the atmosphere, it's been a great experience." - Dave Wilson, head coach.

"We were really excited with the high energy environment as we always play well in those types of games just like in our home gym. We get our energy from our defence, when we're getting stops we're getting scores too. It was a great event especially to be playing against one of our bigger rivals in Windsor." - Andrea Priamo.

BY THE NUMBERS
60 – Coming in lowest amount Lancer put up in a game this year, today they put up a season low 40
33 – Least amount of points the Gaels gave up this season at Toronto
#13 – Rogers Player of the Game for Windsor
#14 Priamo Player of the Game for Queen's

UP NEXT
The Gaels will visit Algoma next Saturday at 6pm before returning home on the 26th for a matchup with Ryerson.

Source: Queen's Gaels