Golden Hawks face off against each other in OUA all-star game

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The time of the year has come where the season has wrapped up and school is over with.

This marks the arrival of the tenth annual Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Womenโ€™s Basketball All-Star game.

The game is made up of the OUAโ€™s biggest stars, from the past season, with 10 university teams being represented to make up a total of 20 players โ€“ two of which were Golden Hawks.

Nicole Morrison, a fourth-year guard from Hamilton, made her second consecutive appearance after being Wilfrid Laurier Universityโ€™s lone all-star from the 2015-16 season.

Photo by Alex Trkulja

This time, she was joined by teammate Kaitlyn Schenck, a fifth-year guard from Kitchener, who enjoyed an outstanding season as Laurierโ€™s leading scorer this past year.

โ€œI think itโ€™s obviously great for those two and great for the team and the program to be represented at the OUA level. They both had great years,โ€ head coach, Paul Falco said.

โ€œI thought Kaitlyn was exceptional last year and [played] her best year in her five years [here]. Obviously being recognized as an OUA all-star was appropriate and well-deserved.โ€

In regards to Morrison, Falco said, โ€œitโ€™s her second appearance, even though she had a bit of an injury-riddled season, she was able to play through some injuries and put up another good season.โ€

This game was made a little interesting for these two though, as they happened to end up on different teams, with Nicole Morrison being on Team McAleenan (head coach of the York Lions) and Kaitlyn Schenck being on Team Wilson (head coach of the Queenโ€™s Gaels).

โ€œIโ€™m glad I played with her for five years and not against her, thatโ€™s for sure,โ€ Schenck said.

โ€œIt was awesome, I mean, it would have been better if we got to play together but it was fun being able to play against each other for once,โ€ Morrison said of competing against Schenck.

โ€œIt never really happens considering weโ€™re on the same team but it was fun, we got to joke around a bit and have a fun time but it was nice to play with her one last time.โ€

The game was close at halftime; Team McAleenan was leading by 37-33. The third quarter was where that all changed.

Team McAleenan would push the lead to as many as 28 points towards the end of the third.

Photo by Alex Trkulja

The closest Team Wilson would get from that point on was bringing themselves within 12 points (83-71), but Team McAleenan ended up pulling away with a 92-77 victory.

Morrison was one of the top five scorers on Team McAleenan as she finished with 10 points.

Schenck finished the game with 8 points for Team Wilson.

โ€œIt was pretty awesome,โ€ Morrison said, in regards to being on the winning team.

โ€œBoth teams have amazing players, so I think I was just lucky enough to have a great performance that day.โ€

โ€œEveryone worked really, really hard and I didnโ€™t really have to do too much since there was so many outstanding players, but [it was a] pretty cool experience,โ€ she said.

When asked for her thoughts on being named an all-star for the first time during her final season, Schenck said, โ€œit was amazing.โ€

โ€œIf I had to pick one year [to make it], it would be my last and I was fortunate enough for that to happen and Iโ€™m also fortunate enough to play at the end with my best friend, Nicole. Of course I was against her in the all-star game but it was great,โ€ she said.

As for coach Falcoโ€™s thoughts on the game, he said, โ€œ[It] was nice to see the two of them playing together.โ€

โ€œThey had to guard each other which was sort of funny because they were on opposite teams,โ€ he said.

โ€œI was able to go down for the game and I thought that they performed well and represented the team and the program very well.โ€


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