Sea-Hawks tangling with Tigers this weekend

Memorial Sea-Hawks women's basketball coach Doug Partridge said he was satisfied with his team's first two wins of the Atlantic Universities Sport (AUS) season, but his team faces a different challenge his week in Halifax

The Lady Hawks opened the 2009-10 AUS campaign with a couple of wins over the Acadia Axewomen last weekend at the Field House, but a new opponent means new thinking.

"Dalhousie is a different kind of team than Acadia, " said Partridge, "so we may need a different type of game plan which may necessitate some different people playing or getting a bigger contribution in terms of minutes from the bench."

MUN, ranked ninth in the country, takes on Dal Saturday night and Sunday afternoon

The Tigers have struggled early, losing 65-55 to Saint Mary's Wednesday and 80-60 to University of New Brunswick last Friday.

"(The Tigers) still have all-star talent in the post and some young perimeter players who were among the best recruits in Nova Scotia," said Partridge, "so I expect they will get their first real chance to play at home and will come out with a lot of fire and determination.

"We will need to be at the top of our game."

The Sea-Hawks have been working on specific areas this week at practice.

"We are still trying to reduce our turnovers and make better decisions on our post defence," Partridge said.

"Coaching isn't about the pursuit of perfection - coaching is about the management of mistakes."

There will be at least one lineup change for the Sea-Hawks.

"We are hoping to have Anna Snow back from the flu ... this weekend. This means a perimetre player from the first week will probably sit out," said Partridge, who wasn't sure who that might be.

"It's still a decision in progress because Brittany Dalton has not been able to practice this week because of the flu."

Dalton, a third-year guard, netted 31 points in the first two games.

St. John's native Snow, who didn't play in the Sea-Hawks' opening games, is a six-foot-two rookie post from St. Bon's.

The Memorial men hoopsters are also in Halifax to play Dalhousie Saturday and Sunday at the Dalplex. The Tigers are coming off an 82-66 win over the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds.

MUN lost both of its opening games to the Acadia Axemen at the Field House last weekend.

Memorial men's coach Peter Benoite said the two losses to Acadia "showed some weakness in our game. But we've got to put that behind us. We'll learn from it. It's part of the process."

"The guys have got to deal with it," said Benoite. "The coaching staff has to deal with it. As a program, we have to deal with it. Hopefully, we've fixed some things from last weekend and we'll move forward."

Both Memorial teams play host to the Saint Mary's Huskies next weekend.

jbrowne@thetelegram.com