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Written by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff
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Sunday, 05 October 2008 |
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The UNBC Northern Timberwolves women’s basketball team posted that record during a Thursday-to-Saturday tournament at Calgary’s SAIT. Loralyn Murdoch, UNBC’s coach, said her team is “right in the mix” but she wants to see her players adjust their collective mindset.
“We’re at the point where we’ve had some success with the program and we need to start playing with confidence -- where we’re the team to beat, not always feeling like we’re trying to beat someone else,” said Murdoch, whose squad should be stronger than the one that won the B.C. Colleges Athletic Association playoff title last season. “Let’s have someone else worry about us. But we’re still playing with a little bit of a lack of confidence and poise. We’ve got to find a way to get that out of these girls.”
UNBC began the tournament with a Thursday win against King’s University College of Edmonton. On Friday, the T-wolves lost to SAIT 63-56. And, on Saturday, they fell 74-60 to Lethbridge.
It was the setback against SAIT that left Murdoch looking for a more commanding performance.
“I think that, on paper, we’re a better team than SAIT is,” she said. “SAIT is very young. They’re good, but they’re young, and our experience should have allowed us to come out on top in that game.”
The loss to Lethbridge -- which should be a power in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference this season -- didn’t bother Murdoch quite as much.
“I would probably say that Lethbridge is going to be in the top two in the ACAC, and we can play with them,” Murdoch said. “We were down 15 at half, lost by 14, and we played a new defence we are just learning for most of the first half and they destroyed us on it. But everyone got shifts and we can compete with the best of them. I’m happy that way.”
In order, players of the game for UNBC were Erika Johnson, Jaclyn Nazareno and Erin Beckett. Johnson and Beckett have experience at higher levels of basketball but are new to the team this season. They join eight returnees and three rookies.
Speaking of rookies, first-year guard Eliza Kroeze impressed Murdoch during the tournament.
“She just played her heart out,” Murdoch said. “I probably pick on her more than any player I have, and she just played outstanding defence all weekend long. I couldn’t have asked for more from her. She did what she needed to do to get floortime and it was really nice to see.”
n She lost her rookie season to a right knee injury. And, unfortunately, Jessica Wallace is still having problems with the injured joint.
Wallace, a guard from Vanderhoof, isn’t practicing or playing right now.
“A year post-surgery, and she’s not where she should be so we’ve stopped practicing until we can get it looked at,” Murdoch said. “She’s extremely disappointed, but there’s nothing we can do until she sees (her surgeon) and that will be this week.”
Wallace suffered a torn meniscus a year ago in September. She did the original damage during a practice and made it worse when she played in a UNBC alumni game.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 05 October 2008 )
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