For the first time since 2014-15 the St. Thomas University Tommies women’s basketball team will head into the ACAA Championships as the top seed.
Head coach Fred Connors has his team locked in this year as they finished with a 15-3 record, winning their final 10 games and going a perfect 9-0 on home court.
The Tommies boasted the top defensive team in the ACAA, holding opponents to a meager 52.8 points per game.
“We need to defend,” said Connors about his team’s key to success. “It has been our staple all year. We can go through lulls on offence, but our defence needs to be solid.”
Leading the charge defensively for the Tommies was 2nd year guard Vanessa Soffee, who led the ACAA in steals per game, with a whopping 4.3.
By way of finishing first overall the Tommies earned a bye in the first round and won’t find out their opponent until after the quarterfinals are finished on Friday. Connors knows the bye can be a double-edged sword.
“It’s always an interesting format when you get the bye. The semi become a little more difficult as we will need to get our nerves out quickly against a good team that has already won in that gym. Where it really helps is if we get a team playing game three where it’s game two for us. And, when you have a league this balanced, it’s one less chance to lose.”
The Tommies bench runs deep as they have eight players averaging more than 17 minutes per game and Connors plans on keeping that strategy for playoffs.
“Our style of play is very team focused. We need everyone to defend hard and play well. We haven’t relied on one or two people all year. We have focused on ourselves all year long. We have seen these teams at least three times. We will see them play in the semi. There won’t be any surprises. We just need to be us and focus on what we do well and stay confident.”
The Tommies will face the lowest remaining seed in the tournament on Saturday at 12:00pm from Halifax, NS. All games can be seen on www.acaatv.ca.