The head coach of the women’s Varsity Blues basketball team was delighted that her team made a New Year’s resolution to remain undefeated in 2009.
“That would be a beautiful gift,” laughed long-time head coach Michele Belanger. “I hope it happens, certainly at home. Our goal is to get back to [the] Nationals. How we get there, we’ll take any route we have to.”
The team has held true to their intentions. They swept the Laurentian Voyageurs and the York Lions in their weekend’s series at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym, maintaining their perfect record in 2009. With the talents and leadership of veteran guard Alaine Hutton and power forward Nicki Schultz, the Blues improved to an 8-1 home record and an 11-5 overall record to maintain the top spot in the Eastern Conference OUA standings.
Laurentian posted a 12-4 lead in the first quarter Friday night, forcing the Blues to make tough shots early on the strength of their court defence. But the Blues used their fast transition game to force the aggressive Lady Vees into committing fouls, frequently sending the Blues to the free-throw line where the team had plenty of success, sinking 83 per cent of their free-throw attempts.
“I thought Laurentian played a solid game and really tried hard to move us off the blocks and push and shove us,” acknowledged Belanger. “Laurentian was really difficult for us. They have some really nice shooters who can make the big shots when they needed to, but we got ourselves to the foul line and that’s what we needed to do.”
The Blues opened the second quarter with the lead and a 9-0 run, but the Voyageurs refused to go away, pulling within a point of the Blues. But with less than two minutes left in the game, the Voyageurs fouled Schultz who sunk both her free-throw attempts to seal the eventual 69-60 victory for the Blues. Schultz had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the double-double, while Hutton scored a game-high 28 points with a perfect 12-12 from the floor en route to being named the Blues player of the game.
Saturday saw another well-fought battle against their cross-town rival. A strong third quarter had the Blues lead by as much as 19 points, overcoming yet another slow first half for the Blues. The York Lions managed to chip away at the lead during the fourth-quarter, but fifth-year Blues Tara Kinnear stepped up and ran with the game in the final two minutes, nailing three huge buckets to help secure the 74-67 win.
“[Tara Kinnear] plays really hard,” said Belanger. “She bangs it pretty hard, and Tara got some really key baskets and really key boards.”
Schultz earned Saturday’s player of the game honours, as well as being named the OUA female player of the week after dropping a team-high 23 points and 17 rebounds for her second double-double in as many games for a total of 47 points and 31 rebounds this weekend. Hutton chipped in with 18 points on Saturday, while spearheading the Blues offensively by contributing crucial plays, including a beautiful pick-and-roll with Kinnear that spearheaded the victory.
“They played really, really well,” said Belanger on her two star players this weekend. “Nicki [Schultz] went to the floor several times and still keeps getting up and working hard at it. Both of them are vital parts in our offence. Both of them are quality players—they are all star players. They can score basically at will. And they work very hard.”
