Queens defeat Broncos 66-53 at RDC

With the regular season winding down, the Red Deer College Queens were looking for a strong home performance against the Olds College Broncos Saturday. The RDC Queens outscored the Broncos in every quarter and rolled to a 66-53 victory.

RDC jumped out to an early lead in the game and continued to press. The RDC Queens had a 14-11 advantage after the 1st quarter. Emily White led the Queens with 6 points. Brianna Scott had 5 points for the Broncos. 

In the 2nd quarter, the Queens increased their lead to 9 (22-13). Medicine Hat College tried to rally and reduced to lead to 5 at the break (28-23). At half, Kiana Mintz had a total of 6 points and 3 rebounds for the Queens. Maya Parker collected 3 assists for RDC. Brianna Scott contributed 8 points for Olds College. As a team, the Queens hit 80% of their free throws.

The 3rd quarter was close but the Queens outscored the Broncos 17-15. At the end of the quarter, the Red Deer College Queens led 45-38. Dedra Janvier accumulated 14 points over 3 quarters and hit 4-of-9 from behind the 3 point arc. Alice-Fay Pitts led Olds College with 13 points.

The RDC Queens expanded their lead in the 4th quarter and eventually won 66-53. Alice-Fay Pitts led the Broncos with 20 points. Emily White accumulated 12 points, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 3 assists and 11 rebounds for the Queens. Brooke Kirkpatrick finished with 8 points, 2 assists and 4 rebounds for RDC.

Dedra Janvier was named the Queens player-of-the-game. The Bachelor of Education (Elementary) student contributed 23 points, 1 assist, 3 rebounds and connected on 7-of-13 shots from behind the 3 point line. 

Queens Basketball Head Coach Ken King was pleased with Janvier's performance.

"Dedra is really playing well," said King. "You can tell she is in a flow, playing as hard as she can, doing a lot of good things and we are proud of how she is performing."

Eva Bonde played well at both ends of the court and contributed 7 points, 1 steal, 1 assist and 4 rebounds. However, the Kinesiology and Sport Studies student was most effective on the defensive side of the ball. Bonde kept Broncos' high scoring Brianna Scott in check. Scott scored only 10 points tonight compared to 50 on Thursday.

"Eva is one of the best guard defenders in the league," said King. "We put her out there 1-on-1 against some of the best players in the league to see what she can do and she stops them."

When looking at a potential playoff position, the RDC Queens can only control their play.

"We need to keep winning, keep playing hard and put ourselves in a position to still make playoffs," said King. 

Several Queens have stepped up.

"Madison Nimmo really showed up. We were really excited about Maddi in the 1st half and now in the 2nd half she is getting into games and seeing minutes," said King. "It's been awesome. You saw Kristen Loney in the 1st half and it's been great having a local student-athlete playing well."

With the home victory, the RDC Queens (8-11) improve to 16 points in the ACAC Women's Basketball South Division and share 4th spot with the Medicine Hat College Rattlers. The top 4 teams from the division will qualify for the playoffs.

Next weekend, the Red Deer College Queens compete against the Ambrose University Lions. Friday Feb. 17 in Calgary, the Queens play the Lions at 6:00 p.m. The RDC Queens host the Ambrose Lions Saturday at 6:00 p.m.