Team holds its own

Daniel Bartlett

With their third-place finish in the Concordia-Reebok Tour-nament over the holidays, the young Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team has shown they can hold their own against the best teams in the country.

Coach Keith Pruden said the three-day tournament “was the first time in the school’s history that we’ve beaten Victoria.” He was referring to the Stingers’ 64-52 win in the tournament’s third-place game. “Psychologically, it was a big boost.”

Although he would have liked to see the Stingers’ elevated play carry over into the second half of the season, Pruden understands that his team’s inconsistency stems from their inexperience at the university level. With five rookies and four second-year players on the roster, the Stingers have lost their last two games and are last in the Quebec conference with a 2-7 record.

Regardless, Pruden can’t say enough about his players’ commitment and dedication to the team.

“We’ve had different first-year players step up in big games for us at different times,” said the twice Quebec conference’s outstanding coach.

“I’m asking a lot of all of them, but so far they’re meeting my expectations, I have no complaints with that.”

Scoring nine points in a 70-56 loss to the McGill Martlets last Friday, veteran Melanie Larocque is the Stingers’ second leading scorer, averaging 11 points per game.

Now in her fifth year with the team, the sports administration major is the team’s quiet leader, according to Pruden, guiding the younger players by example. She was one of two Stingers to be named to the QSSF second all-star team last season.

“Melanie has a lot of weight on her shoulders and she’s a quiet, quiet person, so she leads kind of on the floor by playing hard,” Pruden said. “Now, she’s had good games and bad games this year, but I’ve been very, very pleased with her effort; she’s one of the hardest working people I’ve ever coached. She’s a great example for the younger kids. She’s always training, always in the gym.”

Larocque sits behind rookie Krystle Douglas for the team’s lead in scoring. A Dawson College graduate, Douglas has averaged 12.1 points per game for the Stingers this season.

“She’s one of those people who just finds ways to put the ball in the hoop,” Pruden said.

“Krystle’s playing big minutes and she’s playing the point for us a lot of the time, and that can be a big responsibility for somebody as young as she is, but she’s handling it pretty well.”

With an important three-game road trip starting at UQAM tomorrow, Pruden and his team know they’ll have to put up some big wins if they want a chance at making the playoffs. Despite their struggles in the first half of the season, Pruden says the locker room atmosphere is good and healthy.

“They’re great, they work very hard, and they have a good sense of humour, which is fortunate if you have to play for me,” he said. “I have absolutely no complaints about their work ethic and how they’re handling all this as a team.”