Up against a team that knows how to win a national championship, the UBC Okanagan Heat will stick what they know has worked for them in the recent past when they meet each other on Thursday.
Two-time defending champion Cegep de Sainte-Foy Dynamiques will be the Heat‘s first opponent beginning at 6 p.m. at UBCO gymnasium and Heat coach Heather Semeniuk believes the host team at the Canadian Colleges‘ Athletic Association women‘s basketball championship tournament has the tools to dismantle their highly-touted opponents.
“We know the Dynamiques are known for their physical play, but they have many more weapons,” noted Semeniuk. “But if we stick with our style of play and push the ball, run and maintain pressure on defence, we will be able to compete at their level.”
The Heat, with a 16-2 record in regular-season play, swept their two games at the B.C. Colleges‘ Athletic Association playoffs to claim gold. And their success (eight straight wins) has meant their stock has risen dramatically.
Ranked 11th as recently as January, the Heat have climbed to No. 4 in the national rankings and earned the matchup with Sainte Foy.
Semeniuk attributes strong team play to the Heat‘s winning ways down the stretch and she says it‘s no secret what the B.C. champions will need to do to upset the oddmakers.
“We have to play our best game and improve on each performance,” said Semeniuk. “And if we can get support from our bench and not let the pressure of playing in front of friends, family and a home crowd affect our performance, we feel we can come out on top.”
While outside shooting has been a strength, the Heat have been working on being even better for the eight-team national tournament.
“We‘ve been doing a lot of shooting drills lately and will be relying on our outside game to put pressure on our opponents,” added Semeniuk.
“Most importantly though, we need to be thinking only of taking it one opponent at a time and not worrying about who we might face at the end.
“We‘ve been playing our best ball of the season lately, and if we can keep it up, you can expect something special.”
It‘s expected to be a memorable week for all of the Heat, especially Meghan McGill and Katie Woodman, both of whom played at the CCAA national tournament in 2007, along with current teammates Jenna Kantz, Bailey Radley and Melissa Irish.
McGill and Woodman – 2010 provincial tournament all-stars – will be playing their final weekend of college basketball. McGill of Kamloops is in her fifth and final year of eligibility, while Woodman, an Immaculata High School grad, plans to move from Kelowna at the end of the season.
The UBCO-Ste. Foy matchup on Thursday will be preceded by the opening game at 1 p.m. between No. 2-seed Dawson College of Quebec and No. 7 Lethbridge Kodiaks.
SAIT Polytechnic of Alberta, seeded third, meets No. 6 Mt. St. Vincent University of Nova Scotia at 3 p.m.
The first day of play wraps up with No. 1 Sheridan College of Ontario playing eighth-seed Camosun College of Victoria.
Play continues Friday with the semifinals going at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The bronze-medal game goes at 6 p.m. on Saturday and the gold-medal match at 8 p.m. Top of Page
