by Duncan Forbes

The Tigers women’s basketball team started their pre-season with a once in a lifetime trip to Germany in early September where they played four games against German professional club teams, including head coach Anna Stammberger’s former club Wolfenbuettel. The trip was an exceptional team-bonding experience for the Tigers, and they also visited many historical landmarks around Germany.

Once they returned to Canada, the Tigers took a month-long hiatus before they played again. They finally hit the court for their annual Subway Centennial tournament, and they kicked things off with a dominating 63-43 win against UBC Okanagan. After dropping a heart-breaking 56-54 loss to Laval the next day, they dominated the York Lions 65-32. Another win the next week against UMaine-Fort Kent brought their overall pre-season record to 6-2 as they looked ahead to the regular season.

Expectations were high for the Tigers, who boasted a veteran-laden squad that featured AUS all-stars Courtney Thompson and Tessa Stammberger, as well as fifth-years Robbi Daley and Rebecca Nuttall and third-year forward Ainsley MacIntyre. The team looked poised to make serious noise in the AUS.

They kicked off their regular season with a two-game home stand against the UPEI Panthers. Going into the fourth quarter with a 20 point lead, they very nearly collapsed against the Panthers, but they withstood a late charge and held on for a 54-47 win to open their 2014-2015 campaign. In the second game of the back-to-back, the Tigers improved to 2-0 on the season as Courtney Thompson dropped 27 points to lead the Tigers to a 73-63 victory after they entered the fourth quarter tied at 55.

They were off to Newfoundland the next weekend to face the Memorial Sea-Hawks. In the first game, the Tigers looked as though they would walk away with a 65-62 victory, but they were left in disbelief as Megan Robinson nailed a half-court bomb to send the game to OT. The Tigers managed to brush off the Sea-Hawks’ late-game heroics and pulled out an 80-74 victory.

Going into the fourth quarter trailing by just two points the next day, the Tigers couldn’t pull off any late-game heroics of their own as they fell 68-57 to the Sea-Hawks for their first loss of the season.  Courtney Thompson recorded a career-high 30 points in the loss.

The Tigers dropped their second straight game the next weekend against the Saint Mary’s Huskies. The Tigers had possession and had a two point lead with 11 seconds left, but the Huskies came up with a huge stop and they hit a pair of free-throws to tie the game at 49 with just four seconds left to send the Tigers to overtime for the second time in three games. They just couldn’t manage to seal the deal as they fell 51-49.

In their last game before the holiday break, the Tigers won a huge four-point game on the road against the Acadia Axewomen. Courtney Thompson dropped 18 points in the first half as the Tigers jumped out to a 35-18 lead at halftime and they cruised to a 64-43 victory as they improved to 4-2 on the season as they head into the holiday break.

Thompson’s progression into one of the best AUS, if not CIS, players has been huge for the Tigers to say the least. She’s first in the AUS in scoring by a mile (averaging 23.5 points per game while the next closest is 16.4 points per game). Not only is she leading the league in scoring, but she’s doing so at a very efficient rate. Her 63.8% field goal percentage is second best in the AUS.

For Anna Stammberger, having a leader on the court as confident as Thompson has been a great help.

“She organizes and directs us on the court, handles the ball in pressure situations and is defending better than in past seasons,” says Stammberger.

A pleasant surprise for Stammberger has also been the emergence of first-year guard Diedre Alexander. She’s averaging 20 minutes per game and she’s started three of six games, averaging 5.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

“She’s a great defender and rebounder, plays with poise and intelligence on offence,” explains Stammberger. “She thinks about others and is very coachable.”

Alexander is not the only Tiger who’s stepped it up defensively. Stammberger is pleased with the defensive effort they have displayed thus far, as they’ve held their opponents to an AUS-low 32.2% shooting percentage. As good as their defence has been however, she says that their offence could still use some work.

“We are defending better than in past seasons but not shooting or taking care of the ball as well as I feel we should/could be,” notes Stammberger. “We’re leading the conference in rebounds per game (43.5 per game) and I’m very happy about that. We also have more depth on our bench and that makes us a better team overall.”

Leading the Tigers in rebounds is fourth-year forward Tessa Stammberger, who is averaging 8.0 boards per game. Although Stammberger’s scoring is down slightly from last year, she has been helping the team in other aspects of the game and has been a force in the paint all year to go along with her stroke from long distance.

They will have a tough test ahead of them in the second half of the season as they play two 4-point games against the second place UNB Varsity Reds and one 4-point game against the unbeaten Saint Mary’s Huskies. Their playoff stretch will begin on January 9 when they travel to Charlottetown to face the UPEI Panthers in a two game set.

The Tigers are very proud to announce that the team raised $3,500 towards Breast Cancer Research from the Run for the Cure and Shoot for the Cure events, $2,300 of which was raised by Carissa Poulin.