Sarah Barnes
women’s basketball
The women’s basketball team upset the Laurentian Voyageurs 75-69 on Friday night and suffered a heartbreaking 71-66 overtime loss to York, but Sarah Barnes displayed talent that the OUA recognize her as one of the week’s “Peak Performers”.
Barnes’s weekend performances saw her record 19 points and five rebounds against Laurentian and 22 points and nine rebounds against York.
Barnes said her teammates are a large part of her success and don’t get enough credit.
“There are a lot of unsung heroes who do the grunt work and don’t get recognition. … We’re playing as a team and that’s why we have success.” Barnes, a Masters’ student, said she’s trying to enjoy the game more as she nears the end of her playing career.
“It’s getting to be the end of my career and I’m excited to be in every game, happy to be there trying to contribute.”
Head coach Dave Wilson said Barnes is an invaluable leader on the court.
“She’s a clutch player for us,” he said. “She’s very intelligent and a great leader. When we need something done we can pretty much count on her to get it done, whether it be at the offensive end of the floor or talking us through our defensive rotations. That’s what a great leader does.”
—Amrit Ahluwalia, with files from Mike Woods
Mitch Leger
men’s basketball
Queen’s men’s basketball cruised past the Laurentian Voyageurs 81-57 on Friday night, following their strong performance with a tight 74-67 victory at home over the York Lions the next night. Both wins were thanks in no small part to outstanding performances from Mitch Leger.
The second-year player recorded a phenomenal weekend, posting a double-double (24 points and 17 rebounds) against Laurentian, and an impressive 18 points and 7 rebounds against York. He was quick to brush off his achievements, though.
“When you play a team that’s not at the same level as you, the hard part is not letting yourself drop to their level,” said Leger, the OUA East’s defending rookie-of-the-year. “We played a tough defensive game, and turned it up offensively in the second half … When our offence gets going there’s not many people who can stop us. I don’t go in expecting anything out of myself, I just go in hard and the coaches reward the hard work with minutes.”
Head coach Rob Smart noted his forward’s improvement.
“He had his ups and downs last year [when] he was in first year,” Smart said. “For a young player, Mitch is very good. He’s talented, he can shoot well and he’s big. We’ve got some talented kids and he’s one of them, but I don’t think he’d consider himself head and shoulders above the rest.”
—Amrit Ahluwalia
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