| Lions escape against Perik Jumpers, 70-68 |
Author: Henk Wals
Date: 30 oktober 2004
Box Score
Dutch
Rhona McKenzie scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the ProBuild Lions to a 70-68 victory against her former team. Kristen Green made her home debut, coming back from an ankle injury. ProBuild's American guard made an impression in the first half, before feeling the consequences of having not much practiced the last two weeks in the second. Green was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the first two periods, ending the game with 14 points. ProBuild had a jumpstart behind Green's first 3-pointer, outscoring the Jumpers 24-19 in the first period. In the second quarter the Lions placed a 22-5 run, again with a sharp shooting Kristen Green leading the way, building the lead to 48-27 at halftime. Two scores by Rhona McKenzie and one by Kristen Green extended the lead to a maximum of 27 points in the third quarter, but, as often is the case in this kind of situations, sloppiness and errors started to creep into the Lions game. The Perik Jumpers were able to cut the deficit to four points at the end of the quarter, 56-60, placing a 0-15 run behind 3-pointers of Melissa Pater and Anna Bekkering.
So, against all expectations at the break, the fourth quarter turned out to be very exciting. Melissa Pater scored 62-62 for the Jumpers, but Lions center Nadine Boesaart showed she had range too, swishing a 3-pointer, after which Rhona McKenzie scored 67-62 with a short jumper.
Two consecutive 3-pointers by Perik's Canadian Dutchwoman Anna Bekkering placed the Jumpers ahead for the first time in the game, 67-68, but next Gerda Heinen scored 67-69. With five seconds on the clock Kristen Green had the chance to decide the game from the line, but she missed both free throws. The last chance to win the game for Perik was frustrated by Rhona McKenzie, who stole the ball in the last second and was fouled. From the line Mckenzie made one of her two shots, 70-68.
Coach Brian Benjamin of course was relieved by this narrow escape, but was not very satisfied by the way his team played. Not satisfied at all. "We let slip away a 27 point lead within a few minutes, just like that. We lost concentration, started to play sloppy at defense as well on offense, not running the plays, and not rebounding well, except for Rhona. But I had to take her out at the end of the third quarter because she was in foul trouble. That was when the Jumpers placed their run. I thought Kristen played well too, considering she had not had much practice and played with a heavily taped and braced ankle. After Perik placed their run, they gained momentum and we of course felt heavy pressure to turn the game around again. Since handling pressure is not one of the things we do best, I consider us lucky we won the game in the end."
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Author: Henk Wals
Date: 28 oktober 2004
Saturday ProBuild hosts the Perik Jumpers from Tubbergen, the former team of Lions' Canadian forward Rhona McKenzie. After a not-so-good season the Jumpers signed four new foreign players, English-Canadian guard Sally Kaznica, Dutch-Canadian forward Anna Bekkering (a former teammate of Natalie Hudec, who played in Tubbergen last season and in Landsmeer the season before) American forward Melissa Pater and American center Ashlee Kelly. With Dutch national team player Marloes Renskers and veteran Sefanja Orsel, they combine to make the Perik Jumpers one of the strongest teams of the league. The good news for the Lions is that Kristen Green has recovered from her ankle injury and will be able to play.
Game starts at 8.30 PM CET.
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| Lions Advance to Next Round in Dutch Cup Competition |
Author: Henk Wals
Date: 23 oktober 2004
Rhona Mckenzie finished shy of a triple double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 9 steals as the Lions routed Akrides IJmuiden in the Dutch Cup Competition, 34-79. In addition McKenzie shot 61,5 percent from the field and 86,7 percent from the free throw line. Gerda Heinen poured in 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals. Jildis Pronk chipped in with 11 points. Coach Brian Benjamin used the game against the second division team to give some minutes to Enya Post and Isabella de Groot, a pair of youthful rookies, both making their debut in the First Team. The Lions started to warm up in the second half, scoring 46 points, while allowing Akrides just 14.
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| Next: First Round Dutch Cup Competition |
Author: Henk Wals
Date: 21 oktober 2004
Saturdaynight the Lions travel to IJmuiden in the West of the Netherlands
to battle Akrides in the first round of the Dutch Cup Competition. Akrides
is in eight seed of Division II, where ProBuild's second team is in fourth
seed. On September 16th both teams met in Landsmeer in a practice game and
ProBuild emerged as the winner, 111-39.
Game starts at 5.30 PM CET.
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Foto: Tine Sierink
Date: 19 oktober 2004
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| Ankle injury Sidelines Kristen Green |
Author: Henk Wals
Date: 19 oktober 2004
ProBuild Lions trainer René Wormhoudt expects Kristen Green to be sidelined for no more than two or three weeks. Wormhoudt said the ankle sprain didn't look as bad as it seemed right after the game, but serious enough to keep Green from practicing the next 10-14 days.
Coach Brian Benjamin said he was relieved. "Looking at Kristen Saturday night I was reckoning with two months at least, so I consider us very lucky to have her back within a few weeks", Benjamin said.
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| ProBuild Drops Season Opener, 83-71 |
Author: Henk Wals
Date: 16 oktober 2004
Rhona Mckenzie scored 16 points and grabbed 9 rebounds , Gerda Heinen added 15 points and Jildis Pronk 14, but the Lions dropped an 83-71 decision to the host Cape Holland Den Helder in their season opener Saturday. But there were more losses, as Kristen Green and Rachel Witkamp both had to leave the game with sprained ankles. Greens injury looked serious at first and she was brought to a hospital in Den Helder, where the ankle was diagnosed not to be broken, but severely sprained. Tomorrow Kristen Green will undergo further examination to determine how long her recovery will take.
Coach Brian Benjamin wasn't upset by the loss, but he was worried about the injuries of Rachel Witkamp and Kristen Green. "I just called the hospital, where my assistant-coach Robin Hollander is now with Kristen. I'm relieved her ankle doesn't appear to be broken, but the sprain seems to be serious, so possibly Kristen is out for the next few weeks. That's of course a major set-back for her and for the team." Speaking about the game Benjamin said that his team lacked the necessarily intensity at the beginning. "Cape Holand is the reigning champion and one of the best teams of this league. You'll have to be ready and prepared when you go out on the court to battle a team like that. Apparently we weren't." Brian Benjamin was referring to the first quarter, when the Lions trailed within six minutes by 17 points, 23-6.
Cape Hollands Nienke Geerts scored three 3-pointers in two minutes to fuel her team's spurt. When the Lions recovered and their shots began to fall, it was too late. The first quarter ended in a 33-17 Den Helder lead. In the 8th minute of the second period Cape Holland led by 48-30, but Kristen Green scored, hit two free throws and swished a 3-pointer to start a Lions run, which was concluded in the last second before the break by a spectacular buzzer-beating trey from Jildis Pronk, 56-46.
In the third period Cape Holland was able to widen the gap again to 71-50. The last period the Lions started to close in, 76-61 behind Greens second 3-pointer, but next Kristen Green had to leave the game with an injured ankle and Nadine Boesaart and Rhona Mckenzie were fouled out.
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October 2, 2004
Lions Defeat Oberhausen, 66-75
Kristen Green scored 31 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead the Lions to a 66-75 victory on German NB Oberhausen in an exhibition game at Landsmeer. Rhona Mckenzie added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Oberhausen played without Dutch last years MVP Molly McDowell, whom they acquired from BV Lely this season. McDowell suffered from an injury and watched the game from the bench.
Early in the game the German team gained a 8-14 lead, but Jildis Pronk had a score and an free throw and Kristen Green swished a trey to even the score at the end of the first quarter, 14-14. In the second period the Lions held Oberhausen to just 7 points, while they scored 22 behind 3-pointers from Green and Linda de Jong. In the second half Oberhausen managed to close the gap to six points, but the Lions managed to stay in control of the game.
Coach Brian Benjamin said he was happy with the victory, but that he was not satisfied with the way his team played defense, especially in the third quarter of the game. "We started to play sloppy and we seemed to lack intensity on defence. But on the other hand, playing not so well and still win from a good German team and being unbeaten until now… well, that's not bad, of course."
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September 29, 2004
ProBuild Wins Another Practice Game
Until now the Lions haven't lost a game in the preseason. Thursday night Rhona McKenzie led the Lions with 26 points, as ProBuild had an easy victory against St Katelijne Waver from Belgium, 67-56. Jildis Pronk added 18 points and Gerda Heinen 17. Coach Brian Benjamin was not satisfied with the effort of his team. "We were inconsistent, and did not play with the right intensity level. But on the other hand, despite we were not playing well, we won the game against a strong Belgian team…"
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September 29, 2004
Practice games
Thursday night the Lions host BBC Sint-Katelijne Waver from Belgium for a practice game. Last Saturday the Belgium team had a close loss to Dutch First Division team BV Lely Amsterdam, 50-49. Coming Saturday BC Oberhausen from Germany visits Landsmeer for an exhibition game against the Lions.
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September 26, 2004
ProBuild wins Tournament in Luxemburg
Nobody expected the ProBuild Lions to win the Luxemburg tournament, but in the end the Dutch team came out as the proud winner. In Sunday's first game Musel Pikes Luxemburg tried to avenge their stunning loss from the night before, but again couldn't contain the Lions, who combined hard-nosed defense with a balanced attack to gain a 56-66 victory over the home team. Rhona McKenzie led all scorers with 20 points, Jildis Pronk had 19 and Kristen Green chipped in with 11 points.
In the second game, which was played immediately after the first, ProBuild played against Spirou Charlerois from Belgium. Charlerois ended last season in the third seed of the Belgium league and is considered to be one of the countries top teams. With four players over 6-4 the Belgium team had a surplus of height, but was out-rebounded completely by 6-0 Rhona McKenzie and the rest of the Lions-team. Again, the Lions-defense was hard to overcome and after they started with a 6-0 deficit, the Lions closed the gap quickly, gained an 11-18 lead and never trailed again. The game ended in a 57-43 Lions victory. Rhona McKenzie scored 16 points, Gerda Heinen had 14, Kristen Green 12 and Jildis Pronk 11.
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September 25, 2004
ProBuild Lions routs Musel Pikes in Saturday's exhibition game
Rhona McKenzie and Kristen Green led the attack as the Lions rolled to a 37-67 victory over the Musel Pikes in an exhibition game in Luxemburg.
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September 25, 2004
Tournament in Luxemburg
This weekend ProBuild Lions travel to Luxemburg, one of Europe's smallest countries, situated between Germany, Belgium and France. Sunday at 1 PM CET the Lions meet Musel Pikes from Luxemburg and two hours later they play Spirou Charleroi from Belgium. The night before ProBuild plays an exibition game against Musel Pikes. Last week Musel Pikes another strong Dutch team, Lely Amsterdam. The Luxemburg team came out with a win, 65-58.
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September 3, 2004
ProBuild Signs Kristen Green
The ProBuild Lions management today announced the signing of 5.8 American guard Kristen Green. Kristen Green just finished her college basketball career with the University of California Irvine. She finished in style, scoring a career high 28 points in the season finale against Poly Tech. A few days later Kristen earned the Big West Best Hustle Award as voted on by her peers. She finished eighth in the league in scoring (13.6 ppg), 15th in rebounding (5.5 rpg), third in assists (5.0 apg) and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.14).
www.wbball.uci.edu/Greenbio.html
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September 2, 2004
ProBuild Signs Rhona McKenzie
The ProBuild Lions management today announced the signing of 5.11 Canadian forward Rhona Mckenzie. McKenzie is well known in the Dutch Women Basketball League, playing for Perik Jumpers last year, where she averaged 21,5 points and 15,3 rebounds per game. Before joining the Jumpers she played for the American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Lions coach Brian Benjamin said he was very happy to have McKenzie on his roster. "Last season Rhona was one of the best players of the league. She's showed a lot of heart and leadership, and she's not afraid of taking responsibility. And no doubt she will get us lots of inside points and rebounds."
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