WBB:Capers Hope to Stand Out In Competitive AUS Conference

Sydney, NS - In the 20 years Fabian McKenzie has coached in the AUS, he's never seen the conference more balanced. 

"It's going to come down to who's playing well down the stretch and doing the right things," McKenzie says. "There are so many teams with so many different matchup issues for everyone in this league"

McKenzie is hoping the Cape Breton University Capers emerge as one of the teams to beat in a tightly-contested conference. The Capers' first two games of the season provide an encouraging start. 

Cape Breton picked up back-to-back wins against Dalhousie in Halifax to tip-off the regular season. Hannah Brown powered the Capers with 29 points and 10 rebounds in the opener, followed by 28 and 14 in the second match-up. 

"[Hannah] is going to step up and be the scoring leader and rebounding leader and [so far] that's what she's done," McKenzie said. "I mean she was really good last year but she's putting up MVP numbers so far this year" 

Last season, former AUS MVP Alison Keough ended her five-year stint with the Capers and left a hole in the lineup that Brown is trying to fill. 

"This year is going to be difficult. It's going to be a tough year. It's going to be up and down. The league is very tough so hopefully we're going to be ready at the right time do the right things," McKenzie said. 

McKenzie is also hoping some of last year's role players will step into larger roles this season. MacKenzee Ryan, Toni Bianchini and Madison Munro all had solid seasons a year ago, but McKenzie says he is searching for searching for consistency. 

The Capers also bring in five new recruits, led by guard Monique Calliste, transferring from a junior college in Texas. 

"Monique Calliste is probably the star of the rookie class," McKenzie said. "She's a really quick guard who can score dynamically and defend at a high level" 

Calliste is joined by Maya Watling from New Zealand, Keanna Samuels from Toronto, Addie Mailhot from Ontario, and Rhianna MacDonald from New Waterford. 

"We were looking for some athletic guards and some wings to help take care of some deficiencies there," McKenzie said.  "Last year we thought didn't defend really well down the stretch at certain positions so we tried to rectify that a bit and get more depth." 

McKenzie is hoping to play fast this season but he also wants the team to be competent playing different styles. 

"We're trying to get a fast tempo up and down the floor [this year] and apply pressure on the defensive end," McKenzie says.  "We want to be able to score dynamically up and down the floor. But also when it slows down we want to be able to execute and play to our strengths" 

The Capers play their home opener on Saturday against the rival X-Women.6pm