The Quest University women's basketball team learned that two heads are better than one after their victory over the Langara Falcons on Saturday (Nov. 20).
The Kermodes Ruth Thanert and Nicola Hitchcock teamed up to handle Langara's All-Canadian forward Carling Muir and helped lead Quest to a 74-55 victory.
It was a physical battle in the paint all game long as the 6-1 Muir banged with the 6-2 Thanert and the 5-11 Hitchock but Thanert said it was a great challenge to defend Muir.
"It was a lot of fun," Thanert said of her clashes with Muir. "She's a really good player but I think we played well as a team against her."
The twin towers each had strong stat lines as Thanert scored 16 points to go along with 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hitchcock contributed with 14 points, a team leading 13 rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Quest came out hot in the opening quarter, putting up 22 points but the Falcons kept pace with 20 in what was a very high scoring opening frame. Quest continued their sharp shooting in the second quarter but upped their defence, outscoring Langara 19-3. Thanks to the lopsided second quarter, the Kermodes enjoyed a 41-23 lead at the half but Langara made the game a lot more interesting in the second half.
The Falcons answered back in the third, cutting the lead to as low as 10 points but Quest managed to stave off their late rally. A huge three pointer late in the fourth by Kermodes guard Delainee Behrns was the nail in the coffin and Quest picked up their second victory of the year by the final score of 74-55.
According to head coach Mike Woollard, the win was mostly due to one key factor - rebounding.
"We rebounded the ball today and that was the difference," he said, noting that Quest had as many offensive rebounds (31) as Langara had total rebounds. "We came out hungry today and it showed. I don't think one single player on our team didn't give it their all."
The win came after a 59-49 loss on Friday (Nov. 19) to those same Falcons. Woollard said Friday (Nov. 19) was a winnable game but it a poor second quarter by Quest cost them the win.
"We gave them 20 points in a row at one point and just lost our focus," he said.
The results weren't so positive for the men's team, who dropped two in a row to Langara. They lost 82-68 on Friday (Nov. 19) and 80-71 on Saturday (Nov. 20). Men's head coach Sean Shook was not pleased with his team's play on the weekend.
"Langara is a team we should beat," he said. "Especially at home. We needed guys to step up and make shots but our older guys just weren't hitting them. Langara's young guys played well for them and we just didn't respond."
The Kermodes were missing one of their top frontcourt players in Brodan Robertson and when forward Connor Heinrichs got into early foul trouble, it left Quest without a strong rebounding presence.
"We really missed Brodie's rebounding," Shook said. "With him out and Connor in foul trouble we had to shift guys over and play guys out of their regular position."
Quest's Jesse Norris was the team's high scorer, putting up 27 points to go with nine rebounds but Shook said even Norris himself wasn't pleased with his game.
"He had some good numbers but he wasn't happy with his game," Shook said. "He missed some easy buckets, especially in the fourth and we could have used those points."
Jose Colorado, who scored 32 points against Columbia Bible College last week, was held pointless on Saturday (Nov. 20) and Shook said Langara keyed on him.
"They did a good job stopping him," Shook said. "He's a streaky shooter but Jose being covered like that freed up some room for other players."
Shook did praise the solid defensive work of guard Nico Umgaut.
"I've got to give Nico credit," he said. "We told him to stop (Langara guard) Elliot Mason and he really shut him down in the second half. Some players are struggling to find their roles here but Nico executed well in his tonight."
The men's and women's teams will next take on Douglas College in New Westminster on Friday (Nov. 26) and Saturday (Nov. 27). Both women's games are scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off while the men get underway at 8 p.m.
For more information on the teams, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
