SCHEDULE
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U Sports Women's Basketball (Preseason)
Women's Basketball – Marie's Mini Mart Fall Classic
Thursday, October 11th (Old MUN Gym)
Manitoba Bisons vs. Ottawa Gee-Gee's - 6 PM
Brock Badgers vs Memorial Sea-Hawks - 8 PM
Friday, October 12th (Field House)
Ottawa Gee-Gee's vs Brock Badgers - 6 PM
Manitoba Bisons vs Memorial Sea-Hawks - 8 PM
Saturday, October 13th (Field House)
Brock Badgers vs Manitoba Bisons - 4 PM
Ottawa Gee-Gee's vs Memorial Sea-Hawks - 6 PM
Women's Basketball
The Memorial Sea-Hawks women's basketball team welcome three non-conference teams to town this weekend for the 3rd Annual Marie's Mini Mart Fall Classic.
Visiting teams include the Ottawa Gee-Gee's and Brock Badgers from the OUA conference, and the Manitoba Bisons from the Canada West conference. Ottawa finished the 2017-18 season with a 15-8 record, third in the OUA East Division, while Brock finished at 6-18 in the OUA West Division, missing the playoffs. The Gee-Gee's went all the way to the OUA semifinal last season, dropping a 1-point game to the McMaster Marauders. Manitoba finished last season with a 11-9 record and lost in the Canada West play-in game.
The Sea-Hawks finished last season with an 11-9 record, which placed the team in 5th position in the conference. The Hawks made the playoffs, but were defeated in the quarterfinal of the AUS Championships 71-61 by the Saint Mary's Huskies.
Memorial spent last weekend in Quebec for the Concordia Classic, finishing with a 1-2 weekend record. The Sea-Hawks dropped their first match of the weekend to the host team by a 71-58 score. The Hawks bounced back the following day, securing a 79-71 victory over Laurentian. Memorial dropped their final game of the weekend to conference rival UPEI in a tight 3-point game.
Coach English is looking forward to building on his team's games last weekend in front of a home crowd.
"We are extremely fortunate to have an incredible sponsor in Marie's Mini Mart to be able to run this tournament for the 3rd straight year. To be able to give our team the opportunity to compete with top teams from around the country, in front of their home fans, we feel is important to the growth of the game and in generating community excitement for our upcoming season."
Memorial will be led by 5th year forward Sydney Stewart (Sarnia, ON) who was a 2nd Team AUS All-Star selection last season. She finished the year as the team leader in points per game (16.3), rebounds per game (6.6), and steals per game (1.9). Stewart will be joined by fellow 5th years Rosie Stanoev (St. John's, NL), Brook Wright (Cambridge, ON), and Sydney Ezekiel (St. John's, NL).
Wright is coming off a 32-point performance against the Panthers last weekend and will look to carry that momentum into this weekend on home court.
"I have to continue to have confidence in my shot, as well as know what is working for me offensively whether that's driving, shooting, or kicking it out to my teammates when they are opened."
Wright was happy with the team's first preseason tournament, but knows they need to show improvements from last weekend to be ready for the start of the AUS season.
"We have to have better starts to games this weekend. Focusing on getting stops and playing team defense is something we will look to improve on from last weekend."
The tournament kicks off on Thursday night from the Old MUN Gym with Manitoba and Ottawa hitting the court at 6pm, followed by the Sea-Hawks and Brock Badgers tipping off at 8pm. Games continue on Friday and Saturday at The Field House. Game results will be available at www.goseahawks.ca and games on Friday and Saturday will be live on webcast at AUStv.ca.