The men’s and women’s basketball teams both split their away games last weekend. In London on Friday, the men beat the Western Mustangs 82-71 while the women lost 60-49. On Saturday, the teams continued on to Windsor where the men lost 71-61 to the Lancers while the women won 69-65.
On Friday night, the men led Western 45-39 at the half and outscored the Mustangs by nine points in the third quarter to build on their lead. They shot 40.5 per cent from behind the three-point arc, and exceptional defence forced Western to shoot from the outside where they made only four of 23 shots.
Second-year forward Mitch Leger led the Gaels in scoring with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Fourth year-veteran Simon Mitchell also scored 20 points, and rookie Travis Mitchell added another 15.
Head coach Rob Smart said the Gaels played well as a team.
“We defended well and shot well from the outside,” he said.
On Saturday night, the Gaels lost to the nationally-ranked Lancers. Queen’s was down 30-28 at the half but came back to take a 51-46 lead in the third quarter. The Gaels couldn’t hold the lead, though, as they were outscored 25-10 in the final quarter. Rookie Jon Ogden led the Gaels with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Simon Mitchell added 12 points.
Smart said the team just ran out of gas.
“We played extremely well. Windsor is ranked number two in the country and are really tough to play in their own gym,” he said. “We proved we can play with them.”
The women’s team started their weekend on a low note, dropping their third straight game against Western on Friday. They made only 29 per cent of their outside shots. Veteran post player Anne Murphy led the Gaels in scoring with 15 points and six rebounds, while co-captain Sarah Barnes and guard Jamie Dale added nine points each.
Head coach Dave Wilson said despite the loss, there were some positives to the game.
“We played much better than in previous weeks against a tougher team,” he said.
Wilson added that Murphy really stood out.
“She’s an undersized post who plays bigger than she is,” Wilson said. “She’s playing extremely well.”
On Saturday the women turned things around, pulling out the win in a tight finish. They led early in the first quarter but Windsor came back to tie the game 26-26 at the half. In the fourth quarter, the Gaels made key free throws to cement their first win since Nov. 2. Murphy again led the way for the Gaels, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds. Barnes added 15 points while Christine Wallace had 11 points and six rebounds.
Wilson said the team is still getting better.
“We instituted a new defence this season so it takes some time for the players to mesh with it,” he said.
“We want to improve our performance and get the most out of our players that we can,” he said.
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams travel to Waterloo this weekend to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks on Friday night and the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday.
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