Concordia 82, Bishop’s 59: A Long Drive Back to Lennoxville for the Gaiters

Caroline Task and Aurelie D’Anjou Drouin Combine for 56 Points in Season-Opening Win

SportsHarrison-Milo Rahajason — Published November 11, 2017

That was the kind of night the Stingers women’s basketball team had in their season opening game against the Bishop’s University Gaiters at the Concordia Gym on Thursday.

“We were seeing each other, and the ball was moving well,” said fourth-year guard Aurelie D’Anjou Drouin. “We had a lot of open shots and a lot of good shots throughout the game.”

D’Anjou Drouin scored a game-high 30 points along with five rebounds and three assists.

“She can do that,” said Concordia head coach Tenicha Gittens. “She has the green light to score and has the ability to score from anywhere. She’s less hesitant than she was last year, which is what you saw today.”

Fellow guard Caroline Task, meanwhile, showed no signs of a sophomore slump, scoring 26 points along with four steals, three assists and two rebounds in the first regular season game since last season where she was named the Réseau du sport étudiant du Quebec’s rookie of the year.

“I love to shoot and I love the feeling of the three going in,” said Task. “I’ve put in work in the offseason, practicing my shot and it comes naturally now. I’m not hesitating anymore.”

While the two guards did combine for 56 points in the game, Gittens is pleased with the contributions she got from her entire roster. Though she thought she could have gotten more out of everyone, she was quick to point out forward Ashley Moss, who didn’t score, but led the game with 12 rebounds and four blocks.

“She came close to scoring, but that will come,” said Gittens. “She had a really good defensive game, she was guarding [Bishop’s forward Mara Marchizotti] who’s taller than her and held her to only five points.”

Gittens sees some areas that need improvement, despite the blowout win. Specifically, she’d like to see the team’s pick-and-roll become more effective.

“Our girls were rolling off the screen clean, butterball naked,” said Gittens. “There isn’t much use if you aren’t getting her the ball. We’ve got to get better at that and make that pass.”

Things like that, as well as other details like defensive communication and closing out on perimeter shooters are what kept Gittens from being more than just “pleased” with her team’s performance. Task and D’Anjou Drouin agreed, but were happy with how well their first game went and were hopeful that those things would be ironed out over the long season.

The Stingers won’t have to wait long to get back in action. They travel to Quebec City on Sunday to face the Université Laval Rouge et Or, who won the RSEQ regular season title a year ago.