Alex Perno, the Head Coach of the Bishop's Gaiters Women's Basketball team, announced the Gaiters' 2010 recruiting class today. The eight-person incoming class has a local flavour, with Gabrielle Chamberland joining the team from the Cégep de Sherbrooke and Joannie Boucher moving from the Champlain Cougars. In total, the class includes four recruits from Quebec, three from Ontario and one from New Brunswick.

Gabrielle Chamberland

"The team is changing with these players," said Perno. "They are all excellent students, and we will play with an extremely high basketball IQ. We are now going in the direction we want as a program."

Heading the class is Chamberland, a 5'10 forward who was the third-highest scorer in the Cégep AAA league last season with 15.5 points per game, and a Second Team All-Star. The Sherbrooke native's season was highlighted by a 17-for-22, 49-point performance in November for the Volontaires against Champlain-St. Lambert.

The other local recruit is Boucher, a 5'6 guard from Magog, who helped lead the Champlain Cougars to the provincial AA bronze medal last year. She is a great shooter and physical talent, and should be well-equipped to make the jump from Cégep AA to the CIS level.

Joannie Boucher

Also joining the Gaiters from the Cégep ranks is Catherine Bélanger-Paquet (Quebec City, Que.), a point guard from Cégep Trois-Rivières, and Danna Janvier (Montreal, Que.), a 6'1 centre who played with Montmorency. Bélanger-Paquet is an athletic point guard, who was named an Academic Merit winner in the Cégep AAA league last year, while Janvier is a tough player who will provide a physical presence in the post.

The three Ontario-based players to join the Gaiters are Clare Murphy (Ottawa, Ont.), a point guard who is the sister of Gaiters' assistant coach Christine Murphy; Riley Michelle Shkimba (Kingston, Ont.), a 5'10 forward who played for ex-Gaiter Andrea Blackwell's Kingston Impact club team, and Jenny McDade (Toronto, Ont.), a 5'10 forward who spent two seasons at the IMG Academy in Florida.

Rounding out the Gaiters' 2010 recruiting class is Bailey Trafford, from Tracey Mills, N.B. A 5'11 power forward, she was one of the leading scorers in New Brunswick last year with Carleton North High School.

The Gaiters open their season at home to the Maine Black Bears, an NCAA Division I team, on Friday night at the Mitchell Gym, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. There will be a video-only webcast of the game on SSN Canada at www.ssncanada.ca, and live stats will be available on the Gaiters website at www.gaiters.ca.

Tags: Alex Perno , Gabrielle Chamberland , Gaiters Bishop , Joannie Boucher