A scoreless second half for Crandall University led the women’s basketball to a 103-7 victory in front of approximately 150 fans at their home opener on Sunday.
The teams started off strong, clearly dominating the court with strong plays. At the end of 20 minutes, the Tommies were up 51-7. Crandall scored two points in the first quarter and five in the second. They didn’t score again.
Head coach Fred Connors said he didn’t have a game plan going into the match, and tries to focus on the skills of his own team.
“We didn’t have a specific game plan for them, but in general we don’t anyway. We’re just focusing on ourselves…We just want the team to play really hard for 40 minutes, and the results will be what they may,” he said.
Connors said the team still has skills they need to improve upon, no matter the score.
Key players in the game included Hilary Goodine and MacKenzie Balser. However, Connors doesn’t believe there were only a few standout players.
“I thought they all played well. We used everybody and everybody scored. With us, the focus is always on team and team effort, so trying to pick one [player] out of that group would be impossible.”
Players on the sidelines could be heard cheering on their teammates during every play. The bench chanted “defence” whenever the play was in STU’s end. Former players were also at the game to support their old coach.
Before the game, the team also unveiled the championship banner from their ACAA title win last season. Connors said he hopes they get to do the same thing again next year.
“We want to just keep playing well and get ready for playoffs and we’d like to get back to the national tournament again and see if we can win ourselves a gold medal. But it’s a long ways away, so we have to stay focused,” he said.
