UNB gets back into Atlantic University Sport regular season action this weekend, on the road to Antigonish, N.S., for a pair of dates against the St. Francis Xavier University X-Women.
Head coach Jeff Speedy has had his team back on the court following the Christmas break for the Concordia Reebok Invitational in Montreal. The Varsity Reds finished 1-2 at that high profile event including a win over Western University of Ontario in their final game before returning home New Year’s Eve.
UNB enters the double dip in Antigonish with a 1-4 conference record on the season, one that has showed flashes of hope and glimpses of what’s to come, but inconsistency has plagued the black, red and white for much of the season. All part of the territory in the tough AUS.
However, Speedy did like what the Varsity Reds showed in Montreal. It has to carry over now that the regular season is about to re-boot.
“We played some of our best basketball of the season in Montreal and that’s a good sign considering the extended break,” said Speedy. “We were up on (British Columbia’s) Thompson Rivers the entire game and led by one with 3:45 left. Then we stopped making shots and stopped guarding people which made it a tough loss. It’s what we’ve seen much of the season.”
The players, though, saw what’s ailed them in black and white. The VReds showed that with the bounce back win over Western.
“We learned from that loss to Thompson Rivers and went out the next day and held a very good Western team to 56 points,” said the sixth year head coach. “It was nice to play well and get a solid come-from-behind victory after a tough loss the night before. It buoyed the spirit of the girls and that’s the way we want to start 2012.”
If UNB wants to contend and start making the progress it craves, Speedy said it has to start showing on the defensive side of the ball. The willingness to battle for rebounds and loose balls has to become paramount.
“Some light bulbs went on for the team in terms of how hard we have to work defensively and how crucial it is to guard people if we’re going to have success,” he said. “We can’t sit back and wait for the ball to come to us. That doesn’t work at this level. We know we have an uphill climb waiting for us, but I’m starting to see some real good things and making definite progress.”
Speedy isn’t sugar coating the team’s struggles in the first half. It was a difficult process and excuses don’t cut it at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport level. Time to step up.
“Our first team was very tough on and off the court,” he said. “We attended two funerals for people we were close to and we lost a lot of basketball games. The break came at an opportune time to re-charge the batteries and start focusing on what will make us a harder team to play against. We’re excited for the second half of the season.”
Starting this weekend. And how does Coach Speedy feel about the team’s chance at X?
“It is a real tough place to play. In fact, it is the only gym in the AUS where UNB teams that I have coached have not won a game. If we don’t get one this weekend I am going to schedule a middle school team down there next fall to finally get a W in that gym!”
The Varsity Reds play Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in Antigonish before returning home next Friday to battle the University of Prince Edward Island and staying in the nest to face the Acadia University Axe Women the next day. Both games are at 6:00pm in the RJ Curie Center.