The Stingers’ pumpkin isn’t turning into a stagecoach, their rags aren’t morphing into ball gowns, and those bare feet aren’t being fit into glass slippers any time soon.
In other words, Concordia’s season is far from turning into a Cinderella story. Instead, the team prolonged its losing streak, coming up short this time by a score of 70-56 against the McGill Martlets
It certainly didn’t help that the Stingers dug themselves a deep hole in the first quarter in the shape of a 16-point deficit. Concordia didn’t score their first basket until nine minutes into the game.
Still, Concordia managed to solve their shooting woes in the second quarter, and make up some ground. They finished the first half trailing by a score of 22-30.
The third quarter marked tremendous change and improvement for the team, who stormed out of the dressing room finally ready to play some basketball. During this time, Concordia managed to not only tie McGill, but take a lead as well.
“When we tied the game in the third quarter we looked like a completely different team. Everything was fluid. We were taking good shots. We were playing good defense. Then we just stopped, and I have no real explanation for why,” head coach Keith Pruden said.
The Stingers’ lead was indeed short-lived, as the Martlets responded by going on a 15-0 run to close out the quarter and take an eight-point advantage. Concordia seemed both physically and mentally drained and were unable to pose another serious threat for the remainder of the game.
“Basketball has very little in common with boxing: you can’t knock your opponent out with one lucky punch. Basketball is 40 minutes. You’ve got to take 40 minutes of good shots. We were trying to force our way to success,” Pruden said.
Guard Krystle Douglas led the Stingers with 13 points, followed closely by Stephanie Ramonas’ 12, and Marie-Pier Gorup’s 10 points.
Pruden explained that one of the most frustrating things is that while his team performed well in practice prior to facing McGill, come game time they didn’t execute.
“They’re frustrated too. They want to do well, and they know they’re capable of doing well. The problem is not a lack of effort,” he said.
Veteran forward Melanie Larocque agreed that the team is motivated and determined to make the playoffs.
“[Friday] the intensity was there. We just have to focus our intensity on certain tasks. We’re still in it so we’re going to keep going until the end,” Larocque said.
Ultimately, the Stingers will have to find the right mix of offensive and defensive intensity in order to make their goals a reality.
