Clippers defeat Basketball Queens

The Briercrest College Clippers entered tonight's game with a 1-3 record, while the Red Deer College Queens Basketball team held a record of 2-3. The Queens came out quickly and led at the half. Momentum swung the Clippers way in the second half and they eventually won 66-59.

The Queens set the pace early and had a strong opening quarter. A variety of players contributed for a 28-14 lead.

The Clippers scored 13 points in the second quarter compared to the Queens 11, but RDC still led 39-27. At the half, Dedra Janvier led the Queens with 9 points. 

Briercrest College had a strong third quarter and took the lead 47-44. 

The Clippers tried to extend their lead further but with under 3 minutes remaining, Kiana Mintz drained a three pointer to narrow the gap 62-57. Time ran out and Briercrest College picked up the 66-59 road win.

Dedra Janvier was named the Queens player-of-the-game. The Bachelor of Education student finished with 16 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds.

Queens Head Coach Ken King thought the team strayed from the team concept in the third quarter.

"We started playing a little selfish on the offensive end and a little lazy on the defensive end in the third quarter. Briercrest wanted it more than us," said King. "The Clippers always come out and play super hard for four quarters."

Tonight, the Queens were without Emily White, who is one of the team's most consistent and effective players.

"Emily is a little bit sick right now and wasn't ready to play today. We hope she is ready Saturday but we don't know if we will have her tomorrow," said King. "It was more about taking care of her than anything else. The group on our roster today could have taken care of business and didn't."

As a team, the Queens hit 41.5% of their field goals, 37.5% of their three point attempts and were 70.6% effective from the free throw line. 

The Red Deer College Queens are back in action Saturday, Nov. 19 as the Medicine Hat College Rattlers pay a visit to the RDC Gym at 1:00 p.m.