Queens stay hot with win over the Eagles despite a fourth quarter set back

Red Deer, November 18, 2023 - Despite being outscored in the fourth quarter, the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens stay undefeated with win over The Kings University Eagles.

It was all defence in the opening few minutes of the game between the Queens and the Eagles. But in the late stages of the quarter, TKU and RDP found their scoring grooves with the Queens pulling ahead in the dying seconds to take a 21-17 lead into the second. Guard Heena Sidhu (Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies) hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to put the Queens up by four at the end of the quarter.

After the Eagles were held scoreless in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second, Head Coach Brian Anstice called a timeout. But their defence continued to work hard in this time frame as they held the Queens to just three points. Guard Megan Aleman (Interdisciplinary Science) finally ended the Eagles scoring drought with a three-point jumper. At the half, the Queens led the Eagles 35-23.

Aleman and centre Peighton Melton (Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies) led their respective teams in points at the half. Melton had 11 while Aleman finished with eight in the very low-scoring first half. After the first two quarters, both teams were shooting under 30 per cent from the field with the Queens generating most of their points off turnovers.  

In the late stages of the third, the Queens would go on a 12-0 run to blow the game wide open and extend their lead to 24 points. But at the end of the quarter, the Eagles found themselves down by 19 with the Queens leading 55-36.

The Eagles put up quite the fight and managed to outscore the Queens 12-5 in the first five minutes of the quarter which led to RDP calling a timeout. Following the short break, TKU continued to find stops on defence which led to four more points on offence to cut the Queens lead to eight. The Eagles clawed back within seven but that was the closest they would get with RDP walking away with a 63-56 victory.

The players of the game were awarded to Eagles Aneilia Ayotte and Queens Jayden Demchuk. Ayotte had an outstanding second half and finished the game with 14 points while Demchuk had a game-high 17 points.

The Queens will finish off the Fall Term of ACAC action with a home-and-home series against the Olds College Broncos that will start in Olds on Friday, while the Eagles head to Fort McMurray for a two-game set against the Keyano College Huskies next weekend.

Players of the game: Aneilia Ayotte (Eagles) and Jayden Demchuk (Queens)