With a new lineup, the women’s basketball team is ready for the season to begin. Luckily, the 2010-11 recruiting class won’t need to waste too much time on introductions.
Head coach Dave Wilson announced the addition of six new to the Gaels. Four of these players come from the Ontario Basketball Association’s Kitchener-Waterloo Lightning. Forward Gemma Bullard, post Jordan Tomas, and guards Rachael Urosevic and Lisa Minutillo have been welcomed to the women’s basketball program.
Along with the four Lightning players, Wilson has recruited guards Liz Boag and Meaghan MacDougall. Boag, a Kingston-native, was named MVP of Queen’s Tindall Invitational Tournament, a pre-season basketball tournament hosted by the Gaels. MacDougall transferred from Indiana State, a NCAA Division 1 school.
There were specific areas Wilson needed to address with the recent recruitment. The Gaels were looking to add size and depth to the roster and to improve play on the perimeter, especially with shooting skills and playmaking capability.
Wilson said he’s looking to take pressure off guard Brittany Moore by spreading scoring ability throughout the roster. Ranked 4th in the country in three-pointers and 9th in points, Moore became an easy target last year against opposing teams. Wilson is hoping the Lightning recruits will be able to make a quick transition to OUA basketball and credits their former coach Bob Urosevic for their preparation
“They have been very well coached. He has taught them the fundamentals and skills of the game very well,” he said. “That they know each other gives them a comfort level. They understand the movements of each other much more.”
Urosevic said that the relationship between the girls will give them an advantage on and off the court.
“The transition socially to school and the team will be a little bit more seamless,” he said. “They have each other to lean on and certainly on the floor, they have a clear understanding of how each other play. They know each other’s skills, quirks and styles…Anytime you’re around someone for a while you figure that out quickly.”
Urosevic has no doubts that the recruits will be able to make the transition from the OBA to OUA basketball. He said that although the university league has bigger, faster and stronger athletes, he believes his players will be able to compete because of their talent and perseverance.
“They’re going to bring a level of skill, a level of dedication and commitment to basketball,” he said. “[They’re] focused on trying to get better personally and that translates to helping the team.
They’ll be ready to make the transition.”
Urosevic highlighted the girls’ work ethic in basketball and academically.
“They’re all very committed, work hard on their own and work hard in practice in of developing their skills,” he said. “It’s not easy to get into Queen’s. These kids have been pretty focused for a long time. [They] have been good student-athletes for a long time.” Urosevic and Wilson emphasized the players’ experience. From high-pressured games to long road trips to intense weekly practices, the level of competition in the OBA is similar to what they will experience playing for the Gaels.
“We demand a fair amount from the kids and challenge the kids physically, mentally to push beyond their limits,” Urosevic said.
Gemma Bullard, a forward for the Kitchener-Waterloo Lightning, was the last of her teammates to commit to the basketball program after considering several Canadian schools. The basketball program and it’s coaching staff were the deciding factors, she told the Journal in an e-mail.
“I really like Dave as a person and his coaching style suited the way that I play,” she said. “Queen’s also has an overall strong team which suits the fact that I love to win.”
The Guelph-native said she was more comfortable with the close-knit community of Queen’s and the small town atmosphere of Kingston and was excited about the prospects of the engineering program.
“A lot of the people that I have talked to that have been to Queen’s, or are going there this coming fall went because they love the town and the feel of the campus,” she said. “The engineering program at Queen’s is hands down one of the best and I felt that as a student I would have a greater chance of being successful.”
Bullard is hoping to make an immediate impact in the Gaels lineup.
“When any of the four of us are on the floor together, we know what the other one will do,” she said. “This will prove to be our advantage particularly at the beginning of the season when other teams are trying to get used to each other and we look like we were born from the same womb.”
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].