For the first time since 1992, the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens are Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) women’s basketball champions.
On Saturday night the Queens dominated the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings 69-44 in the gold medal game in Lethbridge.
The win marks Red Deer’s 15th straight victory which began in November right before the Christmas break.
The Queens jumped out to an early lead leading 17-7 after the first quarter and 31-17 at halftime.
Augustana made a push in the third period but Red Deer exploded offensively in the final frame with 25 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Queen’s guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal had a championship-winning performance achieving a near triple-double scoring 18 points with 12 rebounds and eight assists. She also had seven steals in the victory and was awarded the tournament’s most valuable player.
Amy Szymanek contributed 13 points and Peighton Melton took home player of the game with 13 points and eight rebounds. Sophie Melin was right behind with 12 points of her own and Heena Sidhu was also named to the All-Tournament team.
The last time the Queens won the ACAC Championship was during the 1991-92 season and assistant coach Nadine Cunningham played for Red Deer that season.
The Queens season is not over yet as they’ll head to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Basketball National Championship in Hamilton, Ont on March 23-26.
