After Saturday’s game against the University of Laurier, a somewhat subdued Amanda Van Leeuwen sat nursing a bloody elbow as teammates celebrated their fourth victory of the season. Moments later a Blues assistant coach would arrive on the scene to provide the best kind of medicine—laughter. Van Leeuwun, fresh off a gutsy 14-point and sevenrebound performance against the Golden Hawks, had no idea how she had gotten the awful gash on her arm in the first place until the coach told her, “You knocked out a Laurier players tooth.” The Blues forward couldn’t help but chuckle. She was an interior force for Toronto the entire evening, crashing the boards on the defensive end and clearing space on offense. She and fourth-year Laila Bellony (11 points, nine rebounds) provided much-needed toughness for a team that largely relies on the strong perimeter play of guard Allaine Hutton and the versatility of Christine Cho.
The team certainly has all the ingredients needed to make a title run this year: experience, talent, and good coaching, but players like Bellony and Van Leeewun are often termed “glue players” because they help keep all the puzzle pieces together with their rugged play and hustle.
“I feel like this team has such great chemistry,” said Van Leeuwen following Saturday’s 78-69 victory. “We come into games strong, confident, fearless, and wanting to win. We know we’re facing some really good teams in the future, but we always go out and give it our best effort.”
The effort has been there for the Blues this season, a 4-0 record can attest to that. Michelle Belanger, in her 27th season as coach, is happy with the team’s progress thus far, but remains outspoken about the need for consistency as they prepare to face their first major tests of the season, against Lakehead and McMaster on the road.
“Our team expectations are high,” said the Blues coach. “We want to get to nationals and win a championship. There are some great elements on our team, we just need to play consistently day in and day out, because that’s the sign of a championship team.”
Lakehead, the weaker of the two western division opponents after finishing 9-13 in 2006, currently sits in second place with a 3-1 record to start the season. They will play U of T in the Friday match-up. Saturday’s game against McMaster will be the ultimate measuring stick in this meeting of unbeaten teams. McMaster (4-0 this season) was 21-1 in 2007 before losing to York in the OUA final. Coach Belanger provided a report of their opponents: “We expect a very tough game. McMaster is a well-seasoned team with many veteran players. For us, it’s going to be about defending and getting rebounds for second and third shots on offense. I think we did well on the boards [against Laurier] and we just need to bring that same kind of effort.”
In Saturday’s game against Laurier, the Blues’ will and desire were also tested. The Blues ended the first half with a narrow 41-37 lead, but in the second, the Hawks would try to scratch and claw their way to victory. At 2:11 of the third quarter, Blues guard Illana Weisberger would be injured on a fl agrant foul from Laurier’s Kandace Baptiste. Weisberger would stay in the game long enough to hit both free-throw attempts, but would have to leave the game without returning as the Blues medical staff placed her left arm in a sling. With a key reserve down for the game, Allaine Hutton would pick up the slack as she has all season. The 2006 all-star would finish the game with 20 points and six assists, but also with six turnovers. After a Hutton steal lead to an uncontested layup for the Blues, Laurier would call a timeout to try to slow her, and it seemed to work. Coming out of the huddle, the Golden Hawks began to employ the full-court press, which threw the Blues out of sync. Instead of making smart passes out of the trap, the Blues guards often tried to dribble their way through, leading to a game high 26 turnovers for Toronto, compared to only 18 on the Laurier side.
“I thought my guards were a little apprehensive [against the trap],” said the coaches after the game. “We were over cautious and consequently we were turning the ball over because of it. We didn’t adjust well and got caught in all the wrong areas.” Van Leeuwen echoed these sentiments. “We’ll just have to be a little more aware and adjust quicker.”
Despite the late surge by the Golden Hawks and sloppiness on Toronto’s part, the Blues would go on to win 78-69 through some scrappy hard-nosed play. They simply outworked and out hustled their opponents, finishing with 40 rebounds to Laurier’s 32, and added four blocks, two from forward Laila Bellony. Laurier’s record is now 3-2 in 2007, while the Blues are 4-0 to start the season.
