Melin and Garcia-Bernal lead the Queens to a victory against the Clippers.

Red Deer, January 13, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens Basketball team played host to the first of two games this weekend against the Briercrest College Clippers, who made the trek all the way from Caronport, SK. The Queens came into this game with a 4-6 record and sit in seventh place right behind their opponent, the Clippers with a 5-5 record.

It was a quick start for the hometown team, scoring 11 points inside the first two minutes of the 2023 year before the Clippers called their first timeout of the game, hoping to stop the Queens fast break offence. But throughout the first quarter, the Clippers battled back to make it a much closer match as they found themselves just four points back at the end of the 10 minutes. Queens guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal (Educational Assistant) finished with almost half of her teams points with nine. For the visiting Clippers, just three players got on the scoresheet with forward Amber Fichtner (Psychology) leading her team with eight.

After a dominant first six minutes of the second quarter for RDP, Briercrest would finally get their first point with a layup underneath the net. But the Queens continued to show off their offensive prowl and found ways to score points. The Clippers just could not find a way to stop Garcia-Bernal and the Queens, who finished off the half with 11 points with her teammate Sophie Melin (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) sitting right behind her with 10 after the Queens doubled their first quarter score. They led the Clippers 44-33 at halftime. Forward Brooklyn Martens (English) had an incredible second quarter as she dropped 15 and overtook the team lead in points.

It was yet another back-and-forth quarter between these two teams to start the second half which saw the Queens extend their lead by two to go into the fourth quarter up 64-51. Garcia-Bernal and Melin finished the third quarter tied for the team lead in points with 16. But it was the Spanish-guard, who kept finding ways onto the scoresheet as she picked up multiple assists and rebounds. After only scoring just four points in the third, Martens continued to lead the team in points with 19 but Fichtner was right behind her with 14.

Sophie Melin continued to light up the opposing team's bucket in the fourth quarter with her best game of the season by far that saw her finish with 24 points, six rebounds and two assists enroute to a 78-65 victory for her team. But it was Sandra Garcia-Bernal who was named player of the game for the Queens as she put in an all-around court effort finishing her night with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Brooklyn Martens finished off with a player of the game honour for herself with 22 points, three assists and two rebounds.

Head Coach Avery Harrison says Melin and Garcia-Bernal came up clutch for his team.

"Sandra played a monster game out there. One rebound from a triple-double and had 11 steals in a game which ties the ACAC record for steals in a single game. Melin had one of her best games of the season with 24 points."

These two teams will have a rematch tomorrow afternoon at 1 pm in Red Deer.