2009-2010 Season Recap

The Laurentian Lady Vees basketball crew were, once again in 2009-2010, right in the thick of things. Unfortunately, with a veteran-laden roster, more was expected, leaving long-time coaching Mike Clarke scratching his head at times.

“We were just a little worse than the sum of our parts” confessed Clarke, looking back on a year in which the team finished 5th in the OUA East with a record of 12-10. “I don’t think we had the talent to be “world beaters”, but we should have certainly been more competitive than we were at times.”

In fact, a quick scan of their results emphasizes the wild fluctuations that would leave Clarke and coaching staff baffled at various points of the season. A convincing 78-54 victory over Queen’s was followed, only weeks later, by a frustrating 64-62 loss to the same team.

“At any given time, we looked great in just about every aspect of the game”, explains Clarke. “There were tons of bright spots, but when you can play at a certain level, at times, and you have a veteran group, you expect to be closer to that level consistently.”

As a general rule, the Lady Vees excelled far more within the friendly confines of the Ben Avery Gymnasium in Sudbury than when they took to the road. Victories over the likes of McMaster, Ryerson and Ottawa provide ample support to the notion that perhaps,
More could be achieved with this particular collection of players.

And while the season certainly contained highlights, the post-season ended quickly as Laurentian were felled by the Ottawa Gee Gees, losing 77-67 in the nation’s capital in a match-up of 4th vs 5th placed teams.

On an individual basis, Hanmer native Katie Goggins finally gets her due, joining teammate Darrah Bumstead on the OUA East Second All-Star team. With just two starters returning in 2010-2011, Clarke and company face a challenging rebuilding job ahead, certainly not the first time for a team that has captured the Ontario championship an impressive 14 times in their illustrious history.