Team captain Jennifer Neil scored 12 points and picked up six rebounds as the Concordia Stingers’ women’s basketball team stole a 49-47 win from the McGill Martlets last Friday.
Neil, who led the team in scoring and was named Concordia’s Female Athlete of the Week, helped the team stay calm and focused in the intense and narrow victory.
“We felt more confident and focused than in previous games,” Neil said. “We showed a lot of heart and just didn’t give up.”
Fifth-year forward Neil, known more for her defensive game, has recently found her scoring touch.
She had scored her way in double figures in many games, including a personal high of 24 in the Manitoba Tournament. “I think it comes from the hustle,” Neil pointed out. “I do not want my scoring to take away from my defensive game. I want to have a balance.”
The match was a close one that saw the Stingers ahead by eight points at one time during the game. Two Martlet trays closed that small gap quickly and then it was anyone’s game. It ended up belonging to the Lady Bees thanks to two Rosie Mendez-Douglas foul shots in the game’s dwindling minutes.
After Concordia tied the match at 47-all with a foul shot, McGill attempted an in-bounds pass from the baseline with seven seconds remaining. The Stingers pressed hard in their attempts to create a turnover. The press worked and Douglas, who was immediately fouled, picked off the in-bounds pass.
“I was thinking that McGill might try to pass to the player I was covering,” Douglas explained, who anticipated the inbound pass and stepped in front of her opponent. She was fouled immediately. “I told myself that I would not miss either shot.” She hit both, and a stinging Concordia defence prevented any McGill reply.
“The victory was something we needed,” Douglas said, but was a little concerned with the 20 Concordia turnovers. “We need to play a more disciplined game. Our defence was often out of position and on offence we made some bad decisions. We stole that game.”
As Concordia begins preparations for next week’s game against Bishops, the challenge is to stick to the game plan. “Our biggest challenge is to play consistently well,” said Head Coach Keith Pruden. “We try to play the same in every game, but in general, we did not play very well against McGill.”
Concordia will need to defend against Bishop’s three-point threat. “Bishop’s guards are very good when it come to hitting threes,” says Neil. “If we play team-defence and step up to their shooters we will have a great shot at winning.”
