Disastrous Third Period Costs Stingers in Provincial Semifinal Loss to UQAM Citadins

The Concordia Women’s Basketball Stingers End the Season on a Low Note

SportsJulian McKenzie — Published March 3, 2014 | Updated March 4, 2014 at 3:52am

“It’s hard beating a team when only three players show up to play and the rest either don’t care or played scared,” said point guard Ashley Clarke, who finished with just five points in her last game as a Stinger.

“We didn’t get much feedback from the coach and I don’t find the substitutions were accurately made.”

Despite being down by just two points at halftime, the Stingers were outscored 18-2 in the third period en route to a first-round exit from the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec conference playoffs.

“Our rotations on defense were late,” said forward Marilyse Roy-Viau, who finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

“We couldn’t put the ball in the net.

“Unfortunately, our coach didn’t take [a] timeout and they kept digging at us,” she continued.

“We got stuck and we couldn’t get out of the hole.”

Six and four points in the first period respectively by Roy-Viau and RSEQ all-star Kaylah Barrett, who finished the game with a team-high 19 points, gave the Stingers a four-point edge heading into the second.

But that’s when everything fell apart for the Stingers as the team scored just 11 total points in the second and third periods combined, and finished the game with a woeful 26.2 total field goal percentage.

“We struggled to score,” Stingers’ head coach Keith Pruden said.

“We looked very disorganized on offense. We looked very tentative. We looked like we didn’t really want to score, we were looking for someone else to pick up the offensive load for us.”

Both Clarke and Roy-Viau were disappointed that the team did not put its best players on the floor during the team’s dismal mid-game stretch.

“Me and Kaylah got subbed early and [Pruden] didn’t want to put us back in until the fourth quarter, and no one could score,” said Roy-Viau.

“Coach just decided to give them extra rest, which in my opinion they didn’t need, considering the game [was] a do or die situation,” added Clarke.

“We only managed to score two points in the third quarter because the only ones who wanted to score were on the bench for no reason.”

Though the loss wasn’t as magnanimous as the team’s heartbreaking 51-48 provincial championship game defeat a year ago, it was nonetheless a tough pill to swallow for Pruden.

“When your season comes to an end and you’re not the winning team, it’s always extremely difficult,” he said.

“This is a particularly difficult kind of loss. We think we should’ve won that game.

“That was a self-inflicted loss,” he continued. “So the only thing that makes this better is time.”

The Stingers now must face life without two of their better shooters, Clarke and three-point specialist Alex Boudreau, who won’t be back next season. Boudreau was held scoreless in her final game with the team.

Clarke, despite the defeat, says she still gave it her all in what proved to be her final act as a Stinger.

“I tried to leave the court with no regrets and I did,” said Clarke. “I just wish everyone was on the same page as me.”