His team may be getting five-week hiatus from its AUS schedule, but Memorial Sea-Hawks women’s basketball coach Doug Partridge has still has plenty of work to do.
“I’ll take a little break, but I’ll also go over upcoming opponents, review performance with the players and address issues that need to be worked on for the new year,” said Partridge.
The Sea-Hawks players will still run and lift weights, “but we will not practise,” said the coach. “Everyone stayed in St. John’s last summer, so we have been together for a while and people need a little break if we want them to stay fresh for the second half of the year.”
Memorial (4-2) is tied for first place with the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds and Cape Breton Capers on 14 points each. The Sea-Hawks’ schedule resumes Jan. 8-9 with a two-game series against vis
So far, Partridge likes what he’s seen from his players so far
“We are very close as a team, we have the best chemistry we have had in three years,” he said. “With that, comes a certain ‘get it done’ mentality.
“We can adapt and play fast or slow, press or play quarter court. What I like about this team so far is that they have really adopted that ‘get it done’ stance and find a way to outplay the other team. Sometimes its pretty and sometimes ... it’s a little messy, but they got it done.”
Partridge reports star guard Brittany Dalton, who sat out the Nov. 27 game against Saint Mary’s due to a knee injury, needs rest and some rehab and “hopefully, it will come around for the second half.
“There is no clicking or catching in the knee, so it doesn't look like she has anything that’s loose or would require surgery to fix,” he said.
“We’ll just have to see how it responds over the next couple weeks and go from there.”
The future of AUS all-star Vicki Thistle also remains up in the air as Partridge said there is “no guarantee” of Thistle’s return in the new year.
The team’s top scorer last year, Thistle is out with an injury she picked up playing soccer during the summer.
“It depends on her health and some other things,” said Partridge, who added: “Haven’t heard from her lately, so not sure at all.”
jbrowne@thetelegram.com
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