In the AUS, any team can win on any given day. The Tigers women’s basketball team is learning that the hard way this year. Consistency has been this squad’s biggest enemy so far, as the Tigers have looked strong all year, but they’ve finished off 2013 with a somewhat disappointing 3-4 record.
AUS women’s basketball is extremely tight this year, with only two teams playing above .500 (SMU and CBU). The rest of the conference has been battling each game for precious points that certainly have not come easily thus far.
In a league where the difference between eighth place and third place is a four-point win, the Tigers know they will need to capitalize when they can. The Tigers have played three doubleheaders so far this season, and gone 1-1 in all three.
The Tigers kicked off their pre-season with an emphatic 61-45 win over UNB. The Tigers then went on to lose three straight games by double digits, being outscored by an average of 21.3 points.
The Tigers hosted Carleton and UQaM in the annual Subway Centennial tournament and came a way with a 1-1 record.
The Tigers finished off their pre-season with a tournament in Laval. They began with an 83-45 bashing of Algoma, before posting double digit victories against both Laval and Laurentian to finish 3-0 in the tournament, and 5-4 on the pre-season.
In their season opener on November 8, the Tigers came out flying at both ends of the court, winning 81-55 against UNB. Tessa Stammberger led the way with 21 points on 9-12 shooting, and the Tigers defense held UNB to 36.7% from the field.
On the second day of the doubleheader, it was as if a completely different team had shown up for the Tigers, as they fell 63-61 to the same team they’d beaten by 26 just the day before. Dal’s offense was held to 35.7% shooting and couldn’t seem to make stops when it counted.
The Tigers then went on the road to Wolfville to face Acadia. The Tigers couldn’t seem to hit their shots and were outscored every quarter, and went on to lose 68-48. Tessa Stammberger was the only Tiger to reach double figures in scoring, registering 16 points and six rebounds.
On the following Saturday the Tigers hosted the Axewomen, and played with a rejuvenated sense of energy and pulled off a resounding 65-49 win in front of the home crowd. They played suffocating defense all night long and out-rebounded Acadia. Three starters finished in double digits for the the Tigers, including a 20 point effort from Courtney Thompson and a double-double from Rebecca Nuttall, who had 12 points and 11 boards.
The next weekend, they headed to Charlottetown to face the UPEI Panthers, who started the season 3-1. After gaining a seven-point lead at halftime, the Tigers were down 76-74 with only seconds remaining on the clock. Tessa Stammberger got the hoop and the harm to go and made her free throw with only five seconds left on the clock, and the Tigers held on to win 77-76.
The following day the Tigers fell to UPEI 78-71, despite a 24 point, 11 rebound effort by Tessa Stammberger. This would mark the third time the Tigers split a two-game series, and they dropped back to .500 with a 3-3 record.
The team finished 2013 on November 27 when they hosted Justine Colley and the CIS No.1 ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies at home. After trailing by only four points at half, the Tigers couldn’t contain the Huskies defensively, and were outscored 48-27 in the second half, and went on to lose 87-62.
The Tigers starting core of Tessa Stammberger, Courtney Thompson, Rebecca Nuttall, Robbi Daley and Ainsley MacIntyre have been huge for the Tigers thus far. Stammberger is fourth in the AUS in scoring with 16.7 points per game and seventh in rebounds with 7.4 per game.
First-year guard Shaylyn Fields has provided solid offense off the bench, including a 20 point outburst on November 22 against UPEI.
Now at 3-4 and fifth place in the AUS, the Tigers will need to make the most of a four-game stretch of four-point games in February to solidify a high playoff seed.
Head coach Anna Stammberger says that her squad must play much better defense and be able to focus longer during practices and games to be successful in the second half.