Posted by Sudbury Northern Life 
The Lady Vees women's basketball team will close out their regular season this weekend as they take on the Ryerson Rams on Friday, Feb. 13 and the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Feb. 14. Both games will tip off at 6:00 p.m.
On Friday night, the Lady Vees will take on their first round playoff opponent, the Ryerson Rams. The Lady Vees defeated the Rams in the first meeting between the two teams this season 64-63 on Jan. 24.
The win marked head coach Mike Clarke's 100th career regular season coaching victory. In that game, the Lady Vees were led by Darrah Bumstead (New Hamburg, Ont.), as she scored 17 points, and Kauri Lafontaine (Whitby, Ont.), who connected on 5-9 from three-point range and scored 15 points.
The Rams were led by their leading scorer, Lisa Goldring (Burlington, Ont.), who scored 16 points, and by Jenny Hobbs (Burlington), who scored 15 points. The Lady Vees will need to key on these two players defensively as well. Golding averages 11.5 points per game, while Hobbs is averaging 10.3 points per game this season.
On offense, the Lady Vees will need to work the ball inside and use their size to their advantage. Bumstead and Lisa Furchner (Sudbury, Ont.), who will start in place of the injured Amanda McConnell (Regina), will need to get a lot of touches in order for the Lady Vees to win this game. This game does have big playoff implications. If the Lady Vees win they will host the first round game between the two teams on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
On Saturday night, the Lady Vees will welcome the red-hot Toronto Varsity Blues. The Blues have won 10 straight games coming into this weekend, which have vaulted them into first place in the OUA East division. One of those 10 wins came against the Lady Vees back on Jan. 23, when the Blues used the free throw line to their advantage in a 69-60 win.
The Blues converted on 25-30 free throws in the game. Two members of the big three for the Blues, Alaine Hutton (Hamilton, Ont.) and Nicki Schutz (Toronto), each made 12 trips to the free-throw line. Hutton converted on 12-12 free-throws and scored 28 points in the game, while Schutz converted 8-12 free-throws and scored 24 points. Hutton and Schutz are also ranked third and fifth in the OUA in scoring, respectively.
Hutton averages 18.1 points per game, while Schutz averages
16.6 points per game, along with 11 rebounds per game. The Lady
Vees will need to shut these two players down defensively and
will also need to keep an eye on Tara Kinnear (Kemptville,
Ont.), the third member of the Blues' big three. Kinnear is
averaging 11.9 points
per game and is a dominant force inside as she is also
averaging nine rebounds per game. The Lady Vees will also need
to look for a variety of scorers to keep up with the Blues
strong attack.
"Friday night is a big game as it determines who will get home court in our first round game and we want home court," said Clarke in a release. "We really need to use our size to our advantage in the game against Ryerson. On Saturday night we need to contain the big three of Toronto. I feel we match up well against them so if we limit our mistakes and play strong defense we should be in the game at the end."
The Lady Vees will play out the last two games of their regular season this weekend when they take on the Ryerson Rams on Friday, Feb. 13 and the red-hot Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Feb. 14. Both games will tip off at 6:00 p.m. Fans who can't make it to the game can follow it on http://www.luvoyageurs.com/4802/XLIVE.HTM .
The Lady Vees have already clinched a playoff spot but will look to lock down the number four seed and home-court advantage in the first round with a win over Ryerson Friday night. The Lady Vees will play the Rams in the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday, Feb. 18 but location and time are to be determined.
