Heat Women Represent at Nationals
3/25/10
Riding an eight-game winning streak, the UBC O Heat felt good heading into the national championships with home court advantage. As the number four seed they were favoured to topple the defending champion Quebec’s Cegep de Sainte-Foy Dynamiques, who entered the tournament ranked fifth. However, the Dynamiques physical play took its toll on the talented Heat as UBC O didn’t come prepared for a scrum. Suffering a 79-70 defeat, the Heat were relegated to the consolation round, meaning the best they could do was bronze. Being named Player of the Game was little consolation for Madison Kaneda who contributed 18 points in the loss. A clearly dejected Heat team went home that night with their hopes of a title dashed, disturbed with the knowledge of the fact they should’ve won that game.
But assistant coach Mandy Trenholm expressed how her players were told to “go home and find a way to get over the loss” and remarked that the difference going into Friday’s game and the night before was “like night and day.” The Heat came into their first consolation round game feeling positive, and against a familiar rival in Camosun, knew what to expect. The Heat played the game they wanted to against the Camosun Blues, taking a controlling lead while getting quality minutes from the bench and production from throughout the line-up. In one of her final games with the Heat, Katie Woodman was named Player of the Game with 14 points, 5 steals and 4 assists, as her team cruised to a 68-45 victory.
In the Heat’s third game they played the Quebec champions and second-ranked team, Dawson Blues. With the winner going on to play for the bronze medal there was much at stake. Although the Heat had problems with their shot selection, and struggled with the Blues’ physical play, they managed to stay in the game until the bitter end, overcoming an eight point deficit to close the score to 57-58 with 34 seconds to go. Unfortunately, they could not finish and their season came to a close with a 62-57 defeat, leaving the Heat in 5th place at the nationals. Meghan McGill was named Player of the Game in her final appearance in a Heat uniform as she posted a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.
As the host team the Heat performed admirably, playing with sportsmanship and heart that made the home crowd proud, their remarkable poise showed even after two heart-breaking defeats. The Heat have nothing to be disappointed about from their experience at nationals, as they displayed a rare combination of talent and fair play that should make any team envious.
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