Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

The Queen’s Gaels are coming off back to back OUA silver medals and are losing four of their five starters. After seasons of the core of Emma Weltz, Laura Donovan, Julia Chadwick and Bridget Mulholland playing a very large part in the Gaels success, they will have to look elsewhere to keep the momentum going as one of the top teams in the OUA. Do they have the pieces to keep their run going and where will they go? It’s about who filled the rotation last year and who can take a step forward.

You look at last year’s Gaels team and you see a group powered by OUA Defensive Player of the Year Julia Chadwick both in scoring and on the glass averaging a double-double. You see the assists leader Emma Weltz playing the second most minutes on the team. You look at their second leading scorer being Laura Donovan with the highest volume of threes and third highest percentage made. You see the second leading rebounder in Bridget Mulholland who spent a lot of time playing alongside Julia. You see all of their top contributors in a lot of categories and how they’ve now departed, but then you look at how the Gaels played down the stretch, and you find ways to bridge the gap.

You look at down the stretch as the Gaels tried to alternate the rest of Julia and Bridget, and you see Mikayla McFarlane who came in to spell either and was a consistent 4.3 rebounds per game with 30 steals. Mikayla had the most offensive rebounds on the team out of everyone except Julia and Bridget, and her ability to play through contact and get to the free throw line helped the Gaels in big situations stopping the clock and getting extra possessions.

Mikalya alongside second year forward Katrina Renon who’s 6’3 and had a similar impact on the boards coming off the bench for the Gaels, give an immediate option at the forward position to get some of what you’re losing back.

Going to the backcourt, there are three pieces to pay attention to who will play a much bigger role this year. At the point guard spot, it’s a quick first step 5’5″ guard in Haley Barbieri who now is in the starting point guard spot. Haley has the quickness to win a lot of individual battles off the dribble. For a Gaels offence who showed last year that attacking the basket and playing off the kick-out can do a lot for the flow of the team, Haley provides the ability to not stray too far from that style and keep shooters like the second player i’m going to mention in rhythm.

Isabella Gaudet had the highest three-point percentage on the team last year, and being a catch-and-shoot guard in the Gaels system which had Emma creating a lot of opportunities off her drive and kick ability, Isabella fits right in as the primary option as a corner or elbow shooter for a quick Gaels offence.

The combination of Haley and the quick release of Isabella gives the Gaels the quick punch they’ve been known for, and what’s left is to build the chemistry that the 2023 group had.

What made the 2023 core click in my opinion outside of individual talent was how long they had played together and how they knew how to play off each other, and that is where the 2024 team has the most to gain. Starting 14 of 20 games last season, Isabella didn’t get a lot of time with the bench unit that Haley ran, and with the heavy minutes Julia and Bridget got, Katrina and Mikayla were rarely on the court for long stretches, and even more rarely together.

What is going to take games played but will turn this group into the contender they’ve been the past few years is how Haley is able to learn where everyone likes to be on the floor during a live game. Being able to make those quick decisions and the players around her knowing where they can be at specific moments to help Haley with ball movement takes experience learning how teams react to plays and how defences attack the younger Gaels squad. With time under their belt and towards the end of this season, I have full faith that this Gaels squad under the coaching of Claire Meadows can once again find themselves among the best of the OUA.

With a group who now comes into starting roles with experience at the highest levels off the Gaels championship runs the last two years, they have the big moment experience and are gaining the chemistry as games go on.