parpho@rogers.com

Gaels start preseason with 85-55 loss to NCAA's Abilene Christian




KINGSTON, Ont. (August 9, 2016) – The Gaels women's basketball team hosted the Abilene Christian University Wildcats on Tuesday night in the ARC, falling to the NCAA visitors 85-55. The Wildcats, playing out of the Southland Conference, are in the midst of a four-year transition from Division II to Division I, and finished last year at 17-1.

GAME FLOW
It was all Queen's early, as the Gaels opened up a 13-point lead in the first quarter punctuated by a Sarah Saftich (Markham, Ont.) three-pointer. From then on, ACU closed the gap until they took their first lead of the game midway through the second quarter on a jump shot from Sydney Shelstead to make it 27-25.

Marianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont.) had 11 points for the Gaels at the half to lead all scorers, while Abby Dixon (North Vancouver) recorded five assists in the opening 20 minutes.

Shelstead had a team-high nine points and five rebounds for the Wildcats at the break.

ACU ramped up the pressure in the second half, finishing the game with a 26-4 fourth quarter.

Alarie managed three more points in the second half to finish with a team-high 14 for Queen's, while Emma Ritcey (Orillia, Ont.) and Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.) each finished with 10 points. Alarie also pulled in a game-high seven rebounds in the Gaels losing effort.

For the Wildcats, Alexis Mason dropped a game-high 15 points and McKenzie Martin made four shots from beyond the arc for her 12 points. Shelstead finished the night with a 13 point performance.