Defending bronze medalists Royals enter PACWEST Championships as fourth seed

The defending bronze medalists Royals women's basketball team will come into the provincial championships this upcoming weekend as the fourth seed in the tournament. 

For most of the roster, this will be their first time experiencing a collegiate championship as the Royals started this season with 12 rookies on the team. While it has not been the smoothest road in terms of multiple game cancellations and postponements throughout the year, the young Douglas squad have shown immense promising talent after completing the season with an above .500 record at 10-8, garnering 20 points and capturing a spot in the playoffs. The team currently averages 70.5 points for a game and has amassed a 36.9% field goal percentage.

Several players have quickly become noticeable impacts from their significant contributions on the court every game. Rookie guard #10 Jenessa Knapp is the Royals' leading scorer after averaging 14.6 points in 14 games. Her best scoring game of the season came on a January 15^th 88-38 win at home against the CBC Bearcats where she put up 26 on the night with a 46.2% field goal percentage. Knapp finished 4^th for average points per game (14.6 AVG), 4^th in assists (2.8 AVG), and 11^th in rebounds (6.5 AVG) amongst conference leaders this season. She has become an integral offensive force for the Royals and can hopefully continue her strong game at the PACWEST Championships.

The Royals' current leading rebounder is rookie forward #11 Laini Glover averaging 7 rebounds and 11.6 points per game. Her best games of the season have been on November 5^th in a road win (71-62) versus Langara where she scored an impressive 31 points, and another away victory against the Camosun Chargers on January 22^nd where she put up 28 on the night. In just the first week of the season and her collegiate career, Glover was named as a PACWEST Athlete of the Week. She finishes the regular season placing 9^th in average points per game (11.93 AVG) and 9^th in rebounds per game (7 AVG) amongst league leaders. The rookie's great under-the-net presence has been crucial in helping the Royals obtain offensive and defensive rebounds. 

On Wednesday morning both Knapp and Glover were named to the PACWEST All-Rookie Team. Knapp was also named as a First Team All-Star and received the PACWEST Rookie of the Year title after her stellar performance on the court this season.

As this has been the first collegiate season for many of the women, garnering learning experiences and building positive team chemistry have been key in helping them progress throughout the year. The PACWEST Championships will be a great chance for many of the players to step up and aim to procure a lengthy playoff run. 

The Royals will play in Thursday's quarter-final against the #5 seed Camosun Chargers (7-11) as they look to grab their second-straight win after completing their regular season with an away victory (82-76) against the Okanagan Coyotes last Saturday. The game will take place at 5:30pm at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford and will also be available to stream online on PACWEST LIVE.