Last year was dominant for the Women's basketball team. They finished second in the PACWEST with 18 wins, and 36 points, only 2 points back from first place. However, the team fell in the Provincial Championships to the hosts of the tournament, the Capilano Blues.

                While much of last year's roster is still intact, there have been some changes in the offseason, primarily, in the coaching position. In May, Steve Beauchamp was announced as the head coach of the Royals Women's basketball program. Since then, Steve has had the chance to make several changes to the team to really shape their style of play. Although many of the Royals players have several years of experience behind them, Beauchamp admits that adapting has not been easy road. "All of the players are excited about the changes and the style of play that we to play. But I think the hardest thing for them is changing habits. The team has fully embraced the style we want to play and the things we want to do; it's just changing habits".

                The change comes in the wake of some offseason roster changes. Last year, much of the offense for the Royals was generated off of the all-around performance of Nanaya Miki. With Miki taking her leave from the program to pursue other opportunities, it leaves a hole in the Royals squad in terms of offense. To fill that, Beauchamp has done a variety of things. One of the things that changed is the style of offense the team brings to the table. In particular, he says: "We want to get easy opportunity at every chance, and run often. If anything, we're a team that wants to take a look at mismatches, and take advantage of that".

                One of the strengths that remain with the team is their defense. Last year, the squad only allowed 1088 points, the second lowest in the league. Knowing that, Beauchamp is hoping to take advantage of the team's solid back court to drive the offense. "Everything we do, we want to generate from our defense. That could be from rebounding the ball to creating turnovers, our offense will be generated from our defensive success". That sort of offense often results in scattered scoring, but Beauchamp is well prepared for that. "We're going to be one of those team where it's going to be hard to key in on one or two players You might have someone who scores 15-20 one game, and then score 8-10 the next game. It all depends on the mismatch".

                This means that the minutes that players on the team will be receiving will also be balanced. In fact, coach Beauchamp believes that getting productivity out of all of his players is essential to the team's success. "We're going to give every player different sort of opportunities. Every player will have opportunities to score, and we're looking to take advantage of that. We're going to need scoring from a lot of different areas to be successful".

                However, despite planning to spread his minutes evenly, Beauchamp admits that there may be a couple of workhorses on the team in terms of minutes. "You may still see a couple people in the 20-30 minute range, but I certainly think that you're going to see a lot of players in the low to mid twenty minutes. Some of our newer faces are also going to be in the high teens".

                One of those workhorses will be captain Adelia Paul, who is in her fifth and final year of PACWEST eligibility.  Her experience has made the experience all the more enjoyable for her new coaches. "I really enjoy coaching Adelia," says Beauchamp. "We're asking her to do a lot of things that she hasn't done in a long time, and she really has fully embraced those changes. At the same time, she has really pushed the rest of the girls to be accountable and try to embrace the changes that we are talking about".

                That accountability will really come in handy this week, as the Royals begin their season this Friday against the Capilano Blues. Tensions will be high as the Blues were the team that ended the Royals' National Championship dreams last year. As Beauchamp says, "Last year, the team fully expected to take a run at Nationals, and falling short of their goal really sits hard with them. They are eager to get into league play, but at the same time, they are aware that Capilano will be a test for them".

                 No matter the result, this matchup will be one that will be sure to entertain. Come out and support the Royals as they open their season this Friday, at 6pm in the New Westminster campus gym. Go Royals!