It wasn't quite the opening to the season that the Quest University Kermodes men's and women's basketball teams envisioned.
Both teams kicked off the 2011-'12 campaign by dropping games by double-digit margins to the Capilano University Blues, with the men losing on Wednesday (Nov. 9) and the women losing on Saturday (Nov. 12).
According to women's head coach Mike Woollard, the Blues are a strong team but he thinks his team can play a lot better than it did in a 75-62 loss.
"Hats off to Capilano; they are a good team and ranked nationally for a reason," he said. "Having said that, we need to do a few things better if we want to be considered in the same circles and accomplish some of the goals we have set for ourselves."
Woollard pointed to containing dribble penetration and helping the helper as two things his team needs to work on. He added that Capilano's guards did a good job forcing Quest into rotations defensively, which left the Blues' post players unguarded in front of the basket. He said the team also needs to work on limiting turnovers.
"Offensively our timing was off and perhaps we were a little excited being in our first league game, but we need to slow the game down mentally while playing at a high speed physically," he said. "Once we are able to do that we will bring the number of turnovers down."
Despite the loss, Woollard said he expects the team to bounce back in the coming weeks.
"The first league game was a bit of a disappointment but also a great learning experience and we will use it to get better," he said. "I feel we are already better from the experience and will only continue to improve as we make our way forward through the conference."
Delainee Behrns led Quest in scoring with 17 points, while Nicola Hitchcock was the Kermodes top performer on the glass, grabbing 10 rebounds. Cynthia Lau also had a solid game, picking up 12 points and seven rebounds.
The men's team met a similar fate, dropping its opening game to Capilano by a score of 85-53. They will have a chance to get in the win column this weekend, with Langara College visiting on Friday (Nov. 18) and the Kwantlen Eagles coming to town on Saturday (Nov. 19).
Quest University is inviting 麻豆社国产residents to attend the games and will be hosting a licensed VIP viewing lounge in the upstairs section of the Quest University gym.
The women's games are set to tip off at 6 p.m., with the men's hitting the court at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
For more information on Quest athletics, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
