Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week (29)
Jocelyn is a 4th year guard from Seattle, Washington. Jones led VIU to two must wins this past weekend. VIU wanted to enter the Provincials in either 1st or 2nd place, earning them a bye into the semi-finals.
On Friday the Mariners faced the last place CBC Bearcats. In a lopsided win, Jones finished the night with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 6 steals in only 21 minutes of play, embarrassing the Bearcats 104-33.
On Saturday, in a game that VIU had to win to secure that elusive first round bye, Jones had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals in a 72-38 win over Kwantlen. Since recovering from a torn hamstring, Jones has been one of the most dominant players in the PACWEST currently sitting 3rd in scoring and 1st in assists.
Rhea Silvestri is a 3rd year guard from Maple Ridge, BC. She has been an important contributor for the Falcons all year and this past weekend it was no different. Langara was sitting 4 points out of a playoff spot heading into the weekend. Two wins were needed if they had a chance of making the playoffs.
In Friday night’s game the Falcons faced the Kwantlen Eagles. The Falcons were fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. They came out strong and Silvestri had one of her best offensive showings of the year, scoring 22 points. She was a huge factor on the boards gobbling up 15 rebounds. Her performance allowed the Falcons to get their first win over the Eagles this season 68 to 62 in overtime.
On Saturday the Falcons travelled to Abbotsford to face the Bearcats, and once again Silvestri contributed on the boards. She grabbed 14 rebounds to go along with 9 points and 3 steals. Langara took the game 67 to 51 and in doing so kept their hopes of extending their season alive.
Langara now sits tied for the 6th and final playoff spot with Camosun. However, Camosun has the tie-breaker so it will come down to the final weekend of PACWEST play that will determine the playoff matches.
Samantha McPhail is a 6’0” third-year centre for the Kwantlen Eagles and student in Criminology. In the Friday match-up against the 1st place Capilano Blues, McPhail tallied 14 points, 1 steal and a 15 rebounds in 59 – 53 loss. At the end of the 1st quarter, the Eagles found themselves down 27-11 and a huge uphill battle. McPhail helped lead her Eagles to a comeback outscoring the Blues 17-13 in the 2nd quarter to close the gap. The 3rd quarter saw each team score 8 point an a running total of 48-36 for the Blues. The 4th quarter saw the Eagles once again outscoring the Blues 17-11. Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Blues would win 59-53.
On Saturday, McPhail led the Eagles to a win over the Quest Kermodes scoring 13 points, 2 assists, 1 block shot, 8 rebounds and 1 steal. She also accumulated 83% accuracy in free throws (hitting 5 of 6) in the game against Quest and 63% accuracy in free throws over the course of the weekend.
Michelle Errico is a 5’6” guard who graduated from Argyle Secondary in North Vancouver, B.C.. Errico brings with her leadership and experience in the back court which helped the Blues to a 74-61 win on Friday night against Langara College and then to a 63-49 win over the #2, Douglas College Royals on Saturday night.
Against Langara College, Michelle went 5 for 8 from the 3 point line and led the Blues in scoring with 22 points. Michelle also dished out 5 assists and had 2 steals in 27 minutes. On Saturday night, she tallied 12 points and had a season high 7 rebounds in 35 minutes. She was also instrumental in the team's defence by grabbing 3 steals and holding Douglas College to 49 points.
Head Coach Ramin Sadaghiani’s claimed that, “Michelle has become one of the best guards in our league. She sees the court well and is one of the most dangerous 3 point shooters in the PACWEST. She has strong leadership skills and a great work ethic.” With this weekend’s win, the Blues preserve their 1st place standing in the PACWEST with a 13-2 record.
Next up for the Blues are road games against Kwantlen University on Friday, Feb. 1 and on Sat., Feb. 2 against at Columbia Bible College.
On Friday, Jones had 17 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists in a 69-39 victory over Quest. On Saturday, Jocelyn had 13 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals in a 73-43 win over Capilano. "Now that Jocelyn is fully healthy she is having a tremendous impact for us as she makes everyone around her better" commented coach McWhinnie
This past weekend Jocelyn Jones led VIU to two huge wins against two very good teams. The Mariners played host to Quest University and Capilano University. Tied for 3rd heading into the weekend, the Mariners needed some results in order to open a gap in the standings
This past weekend was an important one for the Camosun College Chargers as the team continued its push to reach the playoffs. With more games on the road than at home left to play, the Chargers were counting on this weekend’s home games improve their 3-6 record and make the move up the conference standings.
Second-year student-athlete Ella Goldschmid was a large contributor to the Chargers’ ability to defeat the visiting Langara Falcons and Douglas Royals. On Friday, Goldschmid posted 15 pts, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. The following day, the fiery 5’6” wing/point led the Chargers with 14 pts, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
Goldschmid was a major force in helping Camosun reduce their turnovers, increase their shot totals and improve their attempts at reaching the foul line. “We were lucky to play well against both teams and Ella helped to lead the way in what we hope will be the start to a successful restart to our season,” commented Head Coach Brett Westcott.
Christina Brown is a 5’8” second year guard from Langley, BC. This past weekend saw was the start of the back-half of the PACWEST season. The Kwantlen Eagles travelled to Abbotsford for the second time this season to play the CBC Bearcats. In two previous meetings this year, the Eagles easily defeated the Bearcats with scores of 77-47 (Nov. 2) and 76-38 (Nov. 23).
In the single-game weekend, Kwantlen would for the third time this year defeat CBC in a 67-42 win. Brown contributed heavily in the win tallying a solid 23 points, 18 of those points (78%) came from three-pointers. Brown added offensively with 2 assists and continued to show her presence on the court defensively with 6 steals and 3 rebounds. Her contributions in points were a respectable 34% of the Eagles’ total points in the game.
Fifth year forward, Jenn Bodnar, helped lead the Capilano Blues to a 8-0 record this past weekend against both Langara College and Douglas College.
On Friday night, the Blues travelled to Langara were they defeated Falcons 50-44. The Blues were down as much as 15 points in the first half but were able to come back for the win against the Royals. Bodnar was instrumental in the win as she scored 20 points on 7/12 shooting. She grabbed 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Bodnar currently sits #2 in the league assist column averaging 3.83 assists/game.
On Saturday night the Blues defeated the PACWEST #2 Douglas Royals 60-55. Bodnar tallied 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the win.
The Blues remain in top spot of the PACWEST Conference and are currently ranked #5 in the CCAA. The Blues will break for the Christmas holidays and will play next at Quest University, January 4, 2013.
Lauren Seabrook is a 6’1” forward from North Vancouver, B.C and returns to the hardwood after a year off, due to injury. Seabrook brings with her CIS (Western Ontario) experience which helped the Blues to a 83-52 win over Quest University on Friday night at the Capilano University Sportsplex. At game time, Quest University was tied for 2nd place in the PACWEST. In 27 minutes of play, Lauren led the Blues in both scoring and rebounding. She tallied 20 points on 10/15 shooting and grabbed 6 rebounds with 2 assists.
Head Coach Ramin Sadaghiani’s states that, “Lauren has the potential to be one of the best posts in our league. She has great touch around the basket and has the ability to shoot the mid-range and three-point shot. She has strong leadership skills and is well respected in our locker room.”
With this weekend’s win, the Blues preserve their 1st place standing in the PACWEST with a perfect 6-0 record. The CapU Blues are nationally ranked at 5th in the CCAA. Next up for the Blues are away games at Langara College on Friday, Nov. 30 and on Sat., Dec. 1 against the #2 Douglas Royals.
Amonda Francis is a 5th year post from Coquitlam, BC. Francis began her post secondary career in 2007-08 at the University of Alaska and played a second year in 2008-09 before transfering back home to play for Simon Fraser University in 2010-11. Francis then joined the Royals in January of 2012 for her 4th year of eligibility. Having returned back to Douglas College this season, Francis is in her 5th and final year. Francis had an impressive weekend, leading the Douglas College Royals to two big road wins in PACWEST league play.
On Friday night, Francis set the tone early at both ends of the floor posting 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocked shots and 1 steal in only 20 minutes of play defeating the CBC Bearcats 94-36.
On Saturday night the Royals travelled to Surrey to play the Eagle. Francis was a huge factor in Douglas’ 62-54 OT win. She would tally an impressive 32 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a remarkable 7 blocked shots. Complementing her stellar post game and strong defensive presence, Francis also connected on 5 three pointers against the Eagles, shooting 62.5% from beyond the arc. She shot 11/15 from the line in Saturday’s toughly contested game, including 3 crucial free throws in OT to help extend the Royals lead late in the game and seal the win.
Francis is currently averaging 19.4 PPG and 9.2 RPG through the first 5 games of the year. The Royals completed their second consecutive weekend sweep and sit tied for 2nd place in the PACWEST with a 4-1 record.