News Archives 2000-2001

Coach Wilson Accepts Position with National Team
(30 April 01)

Queen's University's Women's Basketball Coach Dave Wilson has accepted the position of Assistant Coach with Canada's National Women's Basketball Team.  Wilson joins former Simon Fraser University Coach, Allison McNeill as assistants to Head Coach, Bev Smith, who guided the women's program to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

"I am very pleased and excited to be involved with Canada Basketball.  It is a great opportunity for me to test my skills at the highest level, while learning the international game", commented Wilson.  "I have a great deal of respect for Coach Smith's vision of the development of basketball in this country, and am thrilled to be involved", he added.

On tap for this summer is a two-week "Mega Camp" which will invite 40 of Canada's top women basketball players to train together at the end of June.  The camp will consist of three levels of players: one group will be preparing to play at the Francophone Games in Ottawa/Hull in July; a second group will travel to China in August to compete in the World University (FISU) Games; and the National Team will head to Brazil in September to compete in the COPABA Tournament.  This is a qualifying tournament for the 2002 World Championships to be held in China.

Wilson guided Queen's to a Provincial Championship this past season defeating Toronto, Laurentian and McMaster along the way.  At the CIAU National Championship, Queen's finished fourth in the country, defeating the defending National Champions, Victoria, before falling to Alberta in the semi-finals.  A chance to bring home the Bronze Medal was dashed by Calgary.

Wilson has coached at Queen's for the past 20 years (19 as head coach) and the win over Victoria at the Nationals marked his 300th career win - 100 of those wins coming in the last four seasons.  He is a Chartered Professional Coach through the Coaching Association of Canada and is completing work on his Level IV/V Certification under the National Coaching Certification Program.  He holds a Master's Degree in Education (M.Ed.), having completed undergraduate degrees in Arts-Health(B.A.), Physical & Health Education (B.P.H.E.) and Education (B.Ed.), all from Queen's University.

Wilson's new appointment will not take the coach away from his duties at Queen's.  "I am looking forward to bringing new skills and knowledge back to Queen's.  I would also like to thank my players and assistant coaches.  This appointment is really a reflection of the hard work and dedication that the players and coaches put in each year.  They are an outstanding group of people with which to be associated", commented Wilson.

2000-2001 Final Wrap-Up
(20 April 01)

With "Colour Night", the Queen's University Athletic Awards Banquet completed, the 2000-2001 season has come to an official close.  Not surprisingly, giving the season the team had, a few honours also followed.  Julie Moon, the team's student trainer was recognized with the "Hal Dunlop Shield" as the student trainer who has made a significant contribution to Athletic Therapy at Queen's.  There is no question that Julie did an outstanding job with the team, keeping them healthy throughout the season.

Each player on the team was presented with a Championship Plaque, having captured the Ontario Championship with the win over McMaster University, 73-63 in the provincial final.  Further, Jacqueline Beaudoin received the "PHE '55 Alumnae Trophy" as the female athlete who has brought the most honour to Queen's by her athletic and scholastic achievements. 

From the Queen's Journal, the student newspaper, Jacqueline was also named the Female Athlete of the Year.  A week later the Women's Basketball Team was named the "Team of the Year" by the Journal.

Team awards went to Casey Pratt, as Rookie of the Year, while second year post player, Erin McDiarmid, was recognized as the team's "Most Improved Player".  Jacqueline Beaudoin, not surprisingly, captured the team's MVP award.

On the horizon for the coaching staff is the OBA Championships in Hamilton on May 4-6, JDP at York in early July and the Queen's Basketball Camps, including the popular Elite Training Camp at the end of August.

Season Wrap-Up
( 16 March 01)

To finish off our last four games of the season, Queen's hosted York, beating them 66-58, then lost to Laurentian, 47-60. The next weekend, still continuing to struggle on the offensive end of the floor the Gaels faced Bishop's. Despite being down 17 points with 9 minutes to go in the game, they managed to squeak out a win, 56-54, taking the lead with only 4.5 seconds left in the game. The next night Queen's were handled easily by Laval, 69-94. The Laval game marked the first loss Queen's has had on their Parent's Night since the night's inception, 13 years ago. That ended league play with Queen's tied for second spot with Toronto at 15-5. Laurentian finished first with a 16-4 record and Carleton captured the fourth spot with an 8-12 record.

Playoffs were held at Ottawa U. with Queen's set to play Toronto in the first round (again). In a complete reversal of last year's playoff matchup, Queen's dominated from the opening tip, winning 89-72. Laurentian struggled to beat Carleton, setting up the OUA East Final between Queen's and Laurentian. This game was a closely contested affair with never more that a 5 point lead for either team. Trailing by 2 at half and down 1 with 3 minutes to go, Queen's surged at the end of the game to win 61-57, securing their first-ever spot in the national championship.

Three players were named to the OUA East All-Star team: Jacqueline Beaudoin (2nd time), Jennifer Jackson & Heather Box. Heather was also named to the All-Defensive team.

Prior to the Nationals, however, Queen's had to travel to Hamilton to play McMaster for the Ontario crown. Battling the flu bug, the team struggled through the first half only to find themselves down 9 at the break. Down 12 early in the second half, the team then went on a 22-3 run, eventually capturing the Provincial Title with a 73-63 victory. Captain Jacqueline Beaudoin was outstanding in the 3 games scoring an unbelievable 80 points.

The win also provided Queen's with a 5th place seeding at the CIAU National Championship at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. The first round matchup was against the defending National Champions, the University of Victoria Vikes. Down early in the game (as the players adjusted to playing in the national championship), they battled back to even the score mid-way through the first half. From that point on, the spread in the game was never more than 4 points. Queen's eventually prevailed, 51-47, stunning the crowd, the media and the Vikes. The semi-final game pitted Queen's against the home-town Alberta Pandas. Despite a valiant effort, the Pandas outlasted the exhausted Gaels, 62-70. In the Bronze medal game, Queen's had "nothing left in the tank", as they were dominated by Calgary, 60-82. Regardless of the outcome, the Queen's team played hard and were easily the crowd favourites throughout the tournament with their efforts and demeanor. Jacqueline Beaudoin was named to the tournament All-Star team to cap her great 5-year career with the Golden Gaels.

Our overall season record was 28-13 with a Provincial Championship and a fourth place finish in the country!

That's it for now - remember to keep checking out our web site - it will be changing constantly over the next few months.

Waterloo Tournament Brings Another Bronze Medal to Queen's
(January 01)

Shades of one year ago, Queen's captures the Bronze Medal once again at the Waterloo Invitational Shoot Out. The team assembled in Waterloo on December 27th for one practice, almost a full month after their last fall term practice (November 29th), to prepare for their opening match against the University of Saskatchewan. The Gaels started slowly, leading by two at the half. The first five minutes of the second half were very impressive as Queen's climbed quickly to a 22 point lead, then coasted to a 70-52 win. McMaster was next on the slate, proving to be more polished at that point in the season. The final score was 64-60 in favour of the Maurauders, ending Queen's 9 game win streak. In the Bronze Medal game, the Gaels faced the host, Waterloo Warriors in a rematch from the Western Tournament earlier in the fall. The first 10 minutes of the game looked very similar to the start of the second half of the Queen's/Saskatchewan game. Queen's quickly built an 18 point lead only to spend the rest of the game watching it slowly erode. Waterloo finally tied the game with less than 8 seconds to go in the game (on a well-executed 3 point play), only to have Queen's inbound the ball, advance it quickly, and score with less than 2 seconds on clock for the win, 65-63 and the Bronze Medal.

Have Coach Wilson's Predictions Come True?
(November 00)

Following the early losses at the Western tournament, Coach Wilson believed that his team was on the right track and would be "very successful come league play." (see article below)

Let's see how the coach's predictions have held up:

Record since the Western Tournament: 10 wins, 2 losses
Record in League Play: 6 wins, 0 losses
Win/Loss Streak: 8 wins in a row

It is hard to argue with the numbers. Queen's has improved dramatically in almost every aspect of their game. In their six league games they have averaged over 75 points per game while yielding less than 60 points per game and forcing 22 turnovers. Captains Jacqueline Beaudoin and Jen Jackson have been complimented by the entire squad, with great performances from Heather Box, Erin McDiarmid and rookie sensation, Casey Pratt. It has been an impressive start to the season, but can Wilson predict what lies ahead?

"I can assure you of one thing; the players will continue to put forth maximum effort each time they play. From that effort, good things will happen."

Return to Western Tournament - Far From Golden
(October 00)

As defending Gold Medalists, Queen's opened their road exhibition schedule in London, facing the Guelph Gryphons. A physical battle throughout, Guelph came away with a two point victory, 62-60. The Gaels struggled with floor shooting (although were excellent from the foul line) not realizing that shooting was going to get worse as the weekend progressed. Saturday, Waterloo took advantage of loose defense and poor ball handling by the Gaels to cruise to an 62-53 win. Sunday saw the Queen's scoring continue to falter as they fell to the host, Western Mustangs, 54-38.

Talking with Coach Wilson following the tournament, he was in a surprisingly positive frame of mind. "It is early in a season where we are instituting virtually an entirely new system's package to our players. We knew coming into the season that it would take more time this year to bring the team up to speed. I was quite pleased with our defense in the Western game and I believe we will continue to grow much stronger in the very near future. As much as I like to win, I fully believe we are taking the proper steps to ensure a foundation that will allow us to be very successful come league play."