Huskies low key in women's basketball drive for five
By Monty Mosher
Scott Munro would rather not talk about five in a row. He'd rather talk about one in a row five times.
It's a distinction Munro has made with his Saint Mary's Huskies all season.
The four-time defending AUS champions are the favourites once again with the conference women's basketball tournament set to begin on Friday at Scotiabank Centre.
The top-seeded Huskies completed a 15-5 regular season and will have a bye to the Saturday afternoon semifinals along with the UNB Varsity Reds, also 15-5.
The quarter-finals are Friday afternoon with the Acadia Axewomen (11-9) meeting the UPEI Panthers (11-9) at 1 p.m. and the Cape Breton Capers (13-7) against the Memorial Sea-Hawks (11-9) at 3 p.m.
Sunday's final is at 1 p.m. with the winner off to the nationals in Victoria the following weekend.
The Huskies have turned over nearly the entire roster during the dynasty—with Justine Colley, Rachelle Coward and Laura Langille the legendary names. Only senior guard Angelina Carvery, an integral part of the run of greatness, has the chance to go five-for-five this year.
Saint Mary's finished well, but there were some pot holes. They lost twice to Cape Breton, including in the regular-season finale last weekend, lost twice to Memorial and dropped a game to UPEI in the second semester.
They needed a win in the first game of their set against the Capers last weekend to clinch a bye.
Every year, every tournament and every challenge is different, said Munro. He believes that what happened last year, or the year before, will have little bearing on his team this weekend.
"We are healthy and are looking forward to our matchup versus UPEI or Acadia," Munro said this week. "It is going to be a very competitive tournament. Whoever puts the best two or three games together is going to come out on top on Sunday.
"We will have to do what we do best in order to have the opportunity, which will be to defend and rebound at a high level. All of the teams bring different elements to the weekend and it should be a great tourney."
UNB raced to the finish line with a 6-1 record. One of those was a strong victory against Cape Breton.
"We are playing well, especially on the defensive end," said Varsity Reds head coach Jeff Speedy. "We gain a lot of confidence from our effort on D and that must continue for us to be successful in the AUS playoffs.
He said the keys for UNB will be balanced scoring winning the turnover battle.
"We need to take care of the ball and at the same time force some turnovers as we generate a fair bit of offence from forcing turnovers. And we do not have anyone scoring 20 points a game so we need multiple players to find their way to the score sheet.
"We legitimately have six players who could score in double figures on any given day. If three or four of them do so we will be in good shape."
Experience shouldn't be a problem for Speedy's team.
"Our core group has played a lot of games together and played well in Scotiabank Centre the past two years. We have a lot of confidence heading to Halifax and are very excited to get on the court."
Cape Breton is the tournament darkhorse—a championship favorite until a five-game losing streak cost them a bye. They have a team with all the pieces to go the distance and are led by Alison Keough, the top rebounder and No. 2 scorer in the conference.
"We havent played well during the month of February," said head coach Fabian McKenzie. "We need to find our defence and make shots. which we haven't done this month."
Memorial can boast a sweep of Saint Mary's in St. John's in January. However, the Sea-Hawks lost three of four coming in and had a pair of losses by double figures at Acadia last weekend.
Graciela Diaz-Brito is the only major addition to a Memorial team that went 4-16 and missed the playoffs a year ago.
"That speaks to the work these young ladies have put in," said Memorial head coach Mark English.
He knows his team has a tough opponent on Friday.
"They have arguably one of the best players in conference in Alison Keough who is a tough matchup every night, " he said.
"We have improved a lot over the season and I feel if we come focused and ready to execute the game plan we will put in place this week we will give ourselves a great chance to be successful."
Acadia finished as well as any team in the league after a poor start. They have league scoring leader Paloma Anderson and plenty of secondary scoring in Chanel Smith, who threw in 27 in the final game of the regular season.
Acadia has won six of seven entering the tournament. The loss was by a single point at Saint Mary's.
"We are playing well right now," said Axewomen head coach Len Harvey, "and really finding our rhythm on both ends of the floor. We are getting production from numerous players and are healthy heading in to the Scotiabank Centre next weekend. Our key to winning is continuing to defend with intensity and rebounding the ball. If we do those things, the other end tends to flow a lot easier for us."
UPEI shouldn't lack for confidence. They had wins against every tournament foe on their way to a 7-2 finish.
"The Panthers will rely on good team defence and defensive rebounding to be successful," said UPEI head coach Greg Gould. "The team has had to adjust its style of play as a result of some late season injury problems. The team should be at full strength and looking to play its best basketball this weekend."