The Queens have a chance to win their second national medal in program history

Hamilton, ON, March 17, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens will have a chance at a national bronze medal as they defeated the Humber Hawks in the bronze semi-final at the Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) Women's Basketball National Championship hosted by Mohawk College in Hamilton, ON.

The Queens were able to start out well with a made three-pointer from none other than guard Heena Sidhu (Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences) to open up the first quarter. But as expected it was going to be a tough game with a spot in the bronze medal match on the line as the two champions from their province battled with each other right from the get-go. The Queens offense was rolling, however, as they found themselves up 18-12 with two minutes left to go in the opening quarter of the bronze semi-final. At the end of the first 10 minutes, Red Deer held the lead with a score of 20-14.

The tit-for-tat and back-and-forth game continued into the second quarter, but the Queens still would hold their own and hold on to the lead for the whole second quarter. The Hawks made it interesting, however, as they continued to fight which was expected as they were the Ontario champions and even defeated the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings in the quarterfinals two days ago by 21 points. The Queens would take a slight 40-38 lead into the second half.

To start the third quarter, Humber College made it a one-point game as they sank a three-pointer following a shot made from the field for the Polytechnic. But once again the Queens offense picked up later in the quarter and they would extend their lead by just one point as they went into the fourth leading 58-55.

The Red Deer offense kicked into overdrive in the last quarter as they did last night and found themselves with a chance at a bronze medal for the second time in their program history after defeating the Hawks 81-72. The only other time the Queens Basketball program medalled was when the 1991/1992 team won bronze after winning the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Championship.

The player of the game was awarded to guard Heena Sidhu, who had 17 points in 32 minutes played. Guard and forward Amy Szymanek (Bachelor of Education) led the Queens with 21 points. The Red Deer squad picked up 12 points off the bench and shot an impressive 44.4 per cent from the field.

The Queens next game will be tomorrow at 3 pm MST with their opponent to be determined later tonight. It will either be the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings or the Dawson College Blues who the Queens are familiar with both teams as they lost to the Blues in their opening game a couple of days ago and they defeated the Vikings for the ACAC Championship just a couple of weeks ago.