She makes her most noise crashing the boards, but Rachel Beauchamp’s first successful shot in Saturday’s showdown with the Okanagan College Coyotes came from long distance, signalling another successful night for the Douglas College Royals women’s basketball team.
Buoyed by a powerful 17-7 lead after 10 minutes, the Royals defeated Okanagan College 72-54 to complete a two-game sweep, giving them a four-point lead in the battle for fourth place in the PacWest league standings.
Beauchamp, a fifth-year veteran, counted 18 points and 11 rebounds, including nine defensive boards, to pace Douglas past the Coyotes. It was her second-straight double-double game. The Royals held a 44-25 edge on the boards and were good on 41.5 per cent of their field goal attempts, and never trailed after Beauchamp’s three-point shot early in the first quarter.
Malena Mokhovikova came in off the bench to contribute 14 points and seven rebounds, while Sydney Fraess chipped in with nine points.
A day earlier, Douglas bested Okanagan 64-49, with Beauchamp cashing in 27 points and 13 rebounds. Fraess netted 10 points, while New Westminster’s Devin Strome provided solid support with six points and five rebounds. With a solid lead suddenly at risk when the Coyotes drew within three points, Beauchamp replied with 10 consecutive points to restore a comfortable margin.
The Surrey native would be named PacWest women’s basketball player of the week for her efforts.
Beauchamp sits atop the league scoring race with an overwhelming 246 points for an average of 18.92 per game. She also leads the PacWest in rebounding, with 13.15 per contest and 171 overall.
At 7-6, Douglas sits two points back of third place Capilano, with just four games left on the regular season schedule.
ROYALS CONTINUE TO ROLL
The Douglas College men’s basketball team made it five wins in a row with a two-game sweep of the Okanagan College Coyotes last week.
Although they trailed after 10 minutes on both nights, the Royals proved they could rally, and improved their hold on second place in the PacWest.
On Saturday, the squad overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter, thanks to New West native Sylvester Appiah. The former Hyack kicked off the comeback with the quarter’s first bucket, then hit a pair of back-to-back shots to put the Royals ahead 72-70. They wouldn’t trail again.
Courtney Anderson led Douglas with 27 points and six assists, while Josiah Mastandrea connected for 23 points.
It was a slightly different story on Friday, when Okanagan’s 23-20 advantage after 10 minutes was quickly erased in a big second frame by Royals shooters. Up 44-35 after the first half, Douglas held the Coyotes at bay most of the way, getting 22 points from Tyrone Asenoguan.
The No. 8-ranked Royals sit two points back of first place Vancouver Island, and will face the Nanaimo team this weekend with a crucial two-game tour of the Hub City.
