(RDC Athletics)

By RDC Athletics

fresh faces aplenty

Teamwork a key theme for RDC Queens Basketball in 2019-20

Oct 16, 2019 | 7:00 PM

Legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson once said, “Good teams become great ones, when members trust each other enough to surrender the ‘me’ for ‘we’.”

Teamwork has been a common theme surrounding the 2019-20 RDC Basketball Queens. Head Coach Mandy Botham has assembled a cohesive group of 13 motivated student-athletes who are ready to compete in the 2019-20 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) season.

“We have a really great mix of players. They’re fast, athletic and compete with a very determined style,” says Botham. “They’ve all come in with a desire to be better individually and collectively, so that’s been a real driving force for us.”

Back in their forward positions are Lauren Cardinal, Mikayla Kuilboer and Mallory Uskiw, who totaled 96 rebounds and 39 assists last year. Guards Harneet Sidhu, a Justice Studies student, and Sandra Garcia-Bernal, a Kinesiology student, are also returning with guard/forward Amy Szymanek, who recorded 57 rebounds a year ago. Emaly Cooke will miss the season with a knee injury, but wants to stay connected with the team as a student-trainer.

“I wanted the returning student-athletes who played on the team last year to really feel like it’s their program and that I was committed to them. They have bought into everything we have been working on, and have done a phenomenal job of welcoming the new players,” says Botham.

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“We have a solid group of second and third-year players who’ve been able to step up and provide leadership. It’s not just our captains who take on a leadership role, it’s everyone in our lineup. That’s something that really excites me as a coach.”

Last season, Sidhu led the Queens with 12 points per game and Cardinal was next with 9.7. Garcia-Bernal was an energetic force, averaging 8.4 points and 9.1 rebounds. Kuilboer, a six-foot-three forward from Killam, connected on 50 per cent of her shots from the field.

“The athletes support each other, challenge each other and celebrate their teammates’ successes,” says Botham. “They have skill sets that not only complement each other, but the new players as well.”

Sophie Melin, Lilee Burke-Stasiuk, Britney Peters and Derian Geddes decided to transfer from the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves after Botham accepted the head coach role at RDC.

“The main reason I wanted to transfer to RDC was because of Mandy,” says Melin, a second-year from Stockholm. “She always wants us to improve and she sees a lot of potential in everybody.”

Many followers of the Queens in the ACAC South Division may not be familiar with the skills of the transferring Wolves, who played in the north. Botham thinks they will fit in nicely.

“Sophie is a talented forward/guard who is a vocal leader and a very smart player. She drives to the hoop and rebounds well,” says Botham. “Derian is a versatile athlete who can rebound, take a charge, or get a stop.”

Melin led the Wolves with 11.6 points and Geddes shot 44.4 per cent from the field.

“Britney is really a dominant force and her finishing moves are strong,” says Botham. “Lilee is a sharp shooter from Edmonton and she can knock down threes.”

A year ago, Peters hovered around 70 per cent from the free-throw line and stacked up 182 rebounds. Burke-Stasiuk averaged 9.9 points per game.

Calgary’s Valentina Rincon, a second-year guard/forward, joins the Queens after gaining experience with the University of Waterloo Warriors last year.

“We also have two first-year players,” says Botham. “Keanna Richards is from Red Deer and Celine Quigley comes in from Fort St. John. The personalities have meshed together really well, so it’s been very positive and a lot of fun.”

In their graduating years, both Richards and Quigley were named the Female Athlete of the Year at their respective high schools. Richards, a Bachelor of Science Veterinary Medicine student, was a standout athlete in several sports at Hunting Hills High School. Quigley, an Open Studies student, was the captain and MVP of the Senior Girls Basketball team at North Peace Secondary School.

To begin the regular season, the Red Deer College Queens will face the defending ACAC and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women’s Basketball National Champions, the Olds College Broncos. Botham and the Queens are embracing the challenge.

On Saturday, October 19, the Queens will host the Broncos at 6:00 p.m. at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

(Story written and submitted by Brent Forster – RDC Athletics)

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