Sterling named all-Canadian
By Jamie Ross
Finishing eighth place at last weekend’s nationals wasn’t an ideal finish to a great season for the St. Thomas women’s basketball team, but they’re not hanging their heads.
“It’s been an amazing year,” said Tommies head coach Fred Connors. “We were able to do something that hasn’t been done by our school in 15 years. We take a lot of pride in that. We set a goal making it to a national championship and winning it. We fell short on that goal, but we have a nice core of players returning who now have an experience of a national championship.”
The Tommies lost all three of their games in Sainte-Foy Quebec at the CCAA women’s basketball nationals.
Host Les Dynamiques du Cégep de Sainte-Foy took home gold defeating Sheridan in the finals by a score of 70-62.
Thursday, STU fell to the undefeated Sheridan College Bruins 84-39.Hailey Doney led the Tommies with 15 points.
The team came out hard the next night and played Dawson College to a tie game with just 40 seconds remaining.
“I thought we did a really good job of bouncing back against Dawson,” said Connors. That was an excellent game. We really showed who we were in that one, and did really well. Unfortunately we came out on the wrong side of that game.
STU fell just short of a win in that contest, dropping the game 69-63.
Doney led the Tommies again with 13 points.
In their final match of the year, STU lost to Camsun College 73-47.
ACAA MVP and graduating player Alicia Sterling was named an all-Canadian at the tournament.
Connors said the biggest difference between play on the regional level compared to the national level is the amount of contact that goes on.
“The physical play was a lot different,” he said. “We were probably one of the more physical in the ACAA, but it didn’t even compare to what they were allowing us to do on the national level.”
With the season now over, the Tommies will lose the services of four graduating players, three of which were named to all-conference teams in the ACAA this year.
Haley Doney, Alicia Sterling, Pam Carvell and Katie Titus will all be gone from this year’s team
“That’s four very difficult players to replace. Not just skill wise but as people,” said Connors. “We’re losing some good people and the program is going to miss them, but they were part of a group that got us to a national championship. They play a part in where the program goes from here and we’re really appreciative of their contribution.
