Queens nearly complete comeback in Olds

Brent Forster - RDC

Thursday in Olds, the Red Deer College Queens trailed the Broncos by 18 points at the half and nearly completed a comeback in the second half. RDC had a great final two quarters and outscored the Broncos by 17, but just fell short by one point (71-70).

On their home court, the Olds College Broncos scored 45 points in the first half. The RDC Queens put up 27. Maya Parker contributed 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 block over two quarters for the Queens. Brittney Thibeaux led the way for the Broncos with 19 points and 6 rebounds.

The Queens had a strong effort in the second half and outscored the Broncos 43-26. The Red Deer College Queens pressed hard to win the game late, but the Olds College Broncos picked up a 71-70 win. Emily White totaled 9 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and 5 rebounds for RDC in the second half. Kristina Bajovic accumulated 12 points and 2 rebounds for Olds College.

Maya Parker led the Queens with 13 points over four quarters. Brittney Thibeaux had a game high 31 for Olds. Thibeaux is the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Women's Basketball leading scorer with 27.1 points per game. 

Queens Basketball Head Coach Ken King saw many positive things Thursday evening, but would like to see better ball management. "We competed hard for about two-thirds of the game. We had many student-athletes contribute but a few turnovers cost us," said King. "When we face the Broncos at home on Saturday, we want to see a consistent effort over four quarters and manage the ball better at key moments."

King praised Mary Krause on another strong effort. "Mary Krause was our player-of-the-game and she worked really hard," said King. "She did a great job defending and her contributions don't always show up in the statistics."

Krause finished with 10 points, 1 block, 2 assists and 6 rebounds, and made a strong impression on King. 

The RDC Queens had the better shooting percentage from behind the three-point arc. The Queens sank 37.5% of their attempts while the Broncos were successful on 25% of their three-point shots. The depth of the Queens played a positive role once again. RDC had 25 points from their bench while Olds College had 0. Paige Schultz and Eva Bonde recorded 11 points each. Emily White added 10 points and Sandra Garcia-Bernal had 7 for the Queens.

The RDC Queens (5-7) will host the Olds College Broncos (8-4) on Saturday, January 27 at 6:00 p.m. in the RDC Main Gym. The Queens trail the fourth place St. Mary's University Lightning by only 2 points. Saturday is also the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Make Some Noise for mental health campaign which will be recognized during the basketball games.