Garcia-Bernal enters history books as Queens drop visiting Lions

Brent Forster - RDC

Red Deer, AB – With every game critical in the push for the playoffs, the Red Deer College Queens responded with a dominant performance. The Queens led by 21 at the break and exploded for 39 in the latter half, picking up a 73-35 home decision over the Ambrose University Lions, as Sandra Garcia-Bernal broke the team's all-time steals record.

The Lions jumped out to a 6-2 edge and then a timeout called by Queens Head Coach Mandy Botham changed momentum. The Queens went on a 13-2 run and led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.

"After that initial slow start, which is something we've struggled with, we did a better job of maintaining our intensity and our focus," said Botham.

RDC added 19 points in the second quarter. Ambrose University replied with five and the Queens were up 34-13 at the break.

Fort St. John's Britney Peters led the way for the Queens with nine points. The third-year forward added four rebounds and hit three-of-five from the field.

Avery Deighton scored five points for the Lions. She had four boards and was perfect from the free-throw line.

Over two quarters, the home team hit 37.5 per cent of its field-goal attempts. The visitors were 20 per cent successful.

RDC began the third quarter on a 12-0 run and eventually outscored the opposition 27-13. The Queens tacked on 12 points in the fourth. The Lions scored nine and RDC solidified a 73-35 home win.

Sandra Garcia-Bernal was named the Collegiate Sports Medicine Queens Player-of-the-Game. The third-year guard from Valencia, Spain had seven points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist. Garcia-Bernal became the Queens all-time steals leader, and currently has 148.

"Sandra plays hard every game. She is the ultimate competitor and brings a lot of that fire to the team, which as a coach you always appreciate. I was really pleased to see her be that defensive anchor, and that's where our spark grew from," said Botham. "She is one of the top defensive, if not the best defensive player in the league, and it was really great to see her break that record, and to do it in only three years."

Nyawieka Gach received the top player honour for the Lions, totaling eight points, five rebounds, one steal and a block over 33 minutes.

Gach and Garcia-Bernal

Britney Peters powered the Queens with 17 points. Harneet Sidhu dropped 13 and Amy Szymanek had 12.

Ambrose University's Sarah Burnell and Tegan McArthur had nine points each.

Over 40 minutes, the Red Deer College Queens shot 42.9 per cent from the field. The Ambrose University Lions hit 25.5 per cent of their attempts.

All ten RDC student-athletes received playing time.

"It was really great to see everyone get in and play a decent amount of minutes today," said Botham. "All of them contributed positively to that win and stat line."

Szymanek (6) added eight rebounds in 17 minutes

The hosts had the edge on the boards (45-37).

The Queens trail the Lethbridge College Kodiaks (12-9) by four points and have two games remaining. The Kodiaks' regular season is complete. If the RDC Queens win their final two games they will edge out the Kodiaks for a spot in the postseason, as the Queens have won the season series 2-1.

The RDC Queens (10-9) will challenge the St. Mary's University Lightning (14-5) in Calgary on Friday, Feb. 28 at 6:00 pm. Then 24 hours later, the Queens will host the Lightning in the final regular season contest.

"We've been preparing the whole way. We anticipated that our playoff fate may come down to the last weekend of the season, even back in August, so it's something that I've used as a driving force," explained Botham. "St. Mary's is a great team and we're going to have to play consistently over 40 minutes."

The Ambrose University Lions (3-16) will face the Olds College Broncos (16-3) twice.