The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN forwards Marvia Dean and Ashley Moss helped the Holland Hurricanes Women’s Basketball team win the Atlantic College Athletic Association (ACAA) Championship. Now they have one more mission left and that is the Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) Women’s Basketball National Championship on March 19-21.

On Sunday, the Hurricanes carted of the ACAA title with a 73-59 win over the Mount Allison University Mounties. It was the first championship win in the history of the Hurricanes women’s basketball programme and coach Mike Connolly said they couldn’t do it without the addition of Dean, who joined Moss this year.

While Dean pumped in 20 points as the second leading scorer behind Jenae Barrett’s 24, Moss pulled down a game high 21 rebounds.

“Marvia and Ashley in particular, are a very big part of our success here at Holland College,” Connolly told The Tribune. “There’s no question about it. They have made sufficient contributions. They are great kids and they are working hard and have really made an impact on our post play.

“They’ve dominated the paint, they’ve led the conference in rebounding and Marvia had a great year all around as the Rookie of the Year and Ashley made All-Conference, so we are very, very pleased with both of them.”

After a 76-55 semi-final win over the MSVU Mystics Saturday afternoon, the Hurricanes carried momentum into the championship final, jumping out to an early 8-2 lead.

The Hurricanes, who were the number two seed in the championship, held quarter leads of 24-19, 36-33 and 55-48.

“That was our ultimate goal when we started in September with our tryouts,” said coach Connolly about the victory. “The goal was to get to the championship and now that we have won it, we just heard that we are the second seeds, so that’s great news for us.

“To be ranked second in Canada is pretty darn good. We’re very pleased with that and that is where our ultimate goal was at the start of the season. We knew we had a great team and we knew we had some great kids that could make the kind of contribution that could get us to the national championship and here we are with a week to go.”

Now that they are into the CCAA Tournament, Connolly said he doesn’t expect it to be an easier than the ACAA.

“There’s no weak teams at the national championships, so we have drawn the host team, Victoria International University, so we know it’s going to be tough there,” he projected. “They have the home crowd, so we don’t expect anybody there will be cheering for Holland College.

“It will be a zoo as far as the crowd is concerned so we have to prepare our kids to be prepared for that kind of hostile environment. But if they can maintain their composure and play the type of game they are capable of playing, we will be just fine.”

As for Moss, who played in the Bahamas with the Bommer Gee Lady Operators, coached by Anthony Swaby and Dean, who played with the Super Value Cybots Queens and coach Wayde Watson, Connolly said they are both in great shape.

“Marvia has really made a contribution. She is very strong off the glass and I sometimes think our best offense is a missed shot because she’s going to go after it and put it back in,” he said. “And Ashley is our most athletic kid that we have in our programme. She blocks a lot of hots and lead the country in block shots. She is a tremendous player and a great athlete.

“So we are looking for big things from both players. We hope they can step up and play the way they are capable of playing and if they do, I think we will be just fine.”