Szymanek thrives despite Broncos road victory

Brent Forster - RDC

Red Deer, AB – It was a challenging opponent for the Red Deer College Queens to face to begin the 2019-20 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) season, but the Queens used the home game against the Olds College Broncos as a litmus test.

"This is a game that we were looking forward to for quite a while," says Queens Head Coach Mandy Botham. "Anytime you get a chance to play the defending national champions, it's a great opportunity for us to test ourselves."

The RDC Queens put forth a strong effort against a tough team. The Queens nearly matched the Broncos' scoring ability in the second quarter and they won the third quarter, but the visitors took an 80-64 road decision at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

The Olds College Broncos not only won national gold, but still have the defending Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Women's Basketball Player of the Year, Brittney Thibeaux, in the lineup. 

The visitors began the game on a 14-7 run.

Harneet Sidhu (14)

With over 40 per cent shooting efficiency from the field, Olds College eventually went up by 18 points in the second quarter. The RDC Queens battled and reduced that margin. Back-to-back three pointers from Sophie Melin and Amy Szymanek made it a 25-37 contest.

Sophie Melin (12)

At the half, Olds College was up 40-25.

A bucket from RDC Bachelor of Science Nursing student Mallory Uskiw in the key capped off a 20-15 stretch for the Queens and the home team was within 10 (45-55) in the third quarter.

The Broncos used their experience and started to expand their lead in the fourth. Brandi Thibeaux connected from the field and on a free throw, pushing Olds College ahead 70-53. 

The Olds College Broncos eventually won 80-64.

Botham appreciated the persistence from her team.

"I was pleased with the way that we were able to fight despite the little lapses that we had. When you have defensive breakdowns or little lapses in executing our systems, a team that's as strong and as deep as Olds is going to really hurt you, and they did," says Botham.

"The Queens Basketball team showed that we are here to compete and battle. On any given night, we can be in the game against any other team in the conference."

Amy Symanek was named the Collegiate Sports Medicine Queens Player-of-the-Game. The Bachelor of Education Secondary student contributed 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Amy Szymanek (6)

The head coach praised Szymanek's effort and level of execution.

"Amy is definitely the heart-and-soul of the team. She is an extremely coachable athlete and she just wants to do whatever the team needs of her," says Botham. "She was tasked with defending Brittney Thibeaux a lot of the night and I thought she did an exceptional job. Her rebounding was really strong and she scored a lot."

Alice-Fay Pitts received the honour for the Broncos, recording 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and one block.

RDC's Sophie Melin scored 13 points and Harneet Sidhu had 10.

Brittney Thibeaux finished with 20 points and her sister Brandi sank 17.

The Queens were stronger on the boards (53-48).

Botham and the Queens will bring forward a few lessons into next week's game.

"One thing that I'm really big on is keeping that consistency and playing Queens Basketball for 40 minutes. We need to be more consistent and focused for 40 minutes and minimize those runs the other team goes on," says Botham. "We need to take care of the ball a little bit better, particularly when we're being pressed. We need to clean those up."

On Friday, October 25, the Queens (0-1) will host the SAIT Trojans (0-1) at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre at 6:00 p.m.