Queens defensively strong in win over the Ooks
Red Deer, November 4, 2023 - The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens extend their ACAC regular season winning streak to 18 games following a huge victory over the NAIT Ooks on Saturday night.
While scoring 12 consecutive points to open up the game, the Queens would hold the Ooks scoreless until guard Payton Neilson (Bachelor of Business Administration) on one of her two free throw opportunities. This would be the only point the Ooks would score in the first five minutes of the game which led to them calling a timeout as the Queens went on a 16-1 run to start the game. RDP would take a 25-6 lead into the second quarter.
Like the first quarter, the Queens would hold the Ooks scoreless for the first five minutes while scoring just eleven which includes dropping a couple of three-pointers. But with under two minutes to play, NAIT picked up some momentum which led to them tripling their first-quarter score. Despite their late push in the final minutes of the half, NAIT was still down 43-19 going into the third.
Neilson would lead the Ooks in points with eight at the end of the half while the Queens were co-led by forward Jayden Demchuk (Practical Nursing Diploma) and guard Heena Sidhu (Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary) who had eight points each.
It was definitely a change of pace to start the second half with both teams just combining for 19 points with under two minutes to go with the Ooks trying to fight to stay in the game. First-year student-athlete Zoey Longman (Legal Assistant) would drain a three just before the buzzer to give her Queens a 30-plus lead going into the final 10 minutes of the game. At the end of the quarter, the Queens were still leading with a score of 62-30.
The Ooks would find their groove with under five minutes to go in the game as they earned stops on defence and transitioned this momentum onto offence. They were outscoring the Queens 8-5 in the fourth. But facing a 32-point deficit going into the quarter, the Queens walked away with a 72-43 victory to keep their undefeated season alive.
The players of the game were awarded to Ooks Micah Reed (Bachelor of Business Administration) and Queens Janai Hubert (Bachelor of Kinesiology). Reed finished the night with 15 points and six rebounds while Hubert finished with a double-double. She had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Queens will have a bye next weekend with their next game being on the road in Edmonton as they face the Concordia University Thunder. The Ooks will head to Olds College tomorrow to take on the Broncos for a 2 pm tip-off.
Players of the game: Micah Reed (Ooks) and Janai Hubert (Queens)