The Queens fall to the Huskies, the number six team in the country
Red Deer, November 18 - It was a tough test for the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens as they faced off against the Keyano College Huskies on Friday night in Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) basketball action.
The Queens came off a one-game weekend which saw them come out on top over The Kings University Eagles. For the Huskies, they are 5-1 with that one loss coming on November 5 against the SAIT Trojans. The Huskies had a bye last week but still currently rank sixth in the nation.
It was a good start for the Queens with a very fast offense and a tight half-court defense especially, guard Amy Szymanek (Bachelor of Education Middle School) who scored the first six points for the home-town Queens and then dropped a three-pointer moments later. Red Deer Polytechnic played a very tight trap causing a couple of turnovers to put the Queens up 13-10 halfway through the first causing the Huskies to call the first timeout of the game.
The first quarter would end with an 18-17 lead for the visiting Huskies. Forward Joy Victor would lead her team in points with six and Szymanek continued her dominant offensive performance with nine in the opening quarter.
With the Queens going scoreless in the first 3.5 minutes, Head Coach Avery Harrison called a timeout hoping to spark the offense. Keyano was really showing why they were at the top of the nation in the second quarter with a very aggressive defense. Forward Lauren France (Bachelor of Arts – Psychology) would end the scoreless drought with a deep two-pointer.
With less than five minutes to go, the Queens and Huskies shared back-to-back threes in what ended off being a very close quarter in this interdivisional match-up with the visiting team up 34-31. The Huskies were led by Nebraska-native Kaylynn Tucker with 10 points and even without a point in the quarter, Szymanek continued to lead her team with nine points in a quarter which saw six of her teammates getting on the scoresheet.
It was a tough quarter for the Queens with the Huskies holding the home team to just seven points compared to their 18 points. Red Deer just could not find high-percentage shots to take and were forced to take tough shots that were not falling for them.
Tucker had the slight team lead with 12 points with her teammate Victor behind her with 11. Szymanek continued to lead her team despite not recording a point in the last two quarters.
The Queens would find their offensive form in the fourth quarter, but it just was not enough to solve the Huskies. Red Deer would win the fourth quarter with 19 points but would ultimately fall to Keyano College 67-57.
The players of the game went to guard Kaylynn Tucker for the Huskies and Queens forward Lauren France. Tucker finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds, and France went three for nine from beyond the arc to complete her night with 13 points.
The Queens play host to the Lakeland College Rustlers tomorrow night at 6 pm and the Huskies will travel further south for a match against the Olds College Broncos.