Women's Basketball to Take Team-First Approach to ACAA Championships

The St. Thomas University Tommies are taking a team-first approach to the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association women's basketball championships.

The Tommies enter the playoff tournament, hosted by Mount Allison University, as the four-seed after finishing the regular season with a record of 9-9.

This tournament is familiar ground for head coach Fred Connors—in his 15 years leading the Tommies program he's never failed to make a playoff appearance.

This year, the Green and Gold will face the University of King's College Blue Devils in the quarterfinals, and despite taking the season series 2-1, Connors said his team will need to play together if they want to move on to Saturday's semi.

"We've had some close games with Kings and know they are an improved team. They have a very good zone that we will need to break down," he said. "I feel our team ball movement has very much improved and we're scoring the ball the best we have all year long."

The Blue Devils boast the second highest scorer in the ACAA in Candace Reynolds and will also look to Christina Brown, who averages 13 points per game, to spark their offence.

"Defensively we'll need to get our feet moving a little better and be more physical on the glass," Connors said. "We expect everyone is going to bring an intense defensive presence to the game."

The Tommies are a relatively young team with only one graduating senior and one fourth-year player. The bulk of the team brings playoff experience from last year, but Connors is looking to fifth-year captain Carissa McTague for leadership on and off the court this weekend.

"We look to several players for various things, but as a fifth-year senior who has been to the National Championships twice we're looking for Carissa to guide our younger players through the process."

In terms of expectations, the team has only one focus—playing well against King's on Friday morning.

"We're focusing on Kings. One game, that's it. I hope to have a different answer Friday night," Connors said.

The Tommies will tipoff against the Blue Devils on Friday, March 3 at 11:00 am.
>> Stream the game live on ACAAtv.ca