The VIU Mariners were winners in their first time stepping on the court since their star player, a trans woman, drew attention to the discrimination she faces.
Harriette Mackenzie and her Vancouver Island University Mariners defeated the Douglas Royals by a 60-46 score on Friday, Nov. 8, in Pacific Western Athletic Association action at the VIU gym.
Members of Nanaimo's LGBTQ community made their presence felt at the gym, packing the bleachers, some holding up signs supporting Mackenzie and expressing trans pride.
"It's always nice to play in front of a big crowd and obviously many of them were here in support of Harriette, which was wonderful to see," said Tony Bryce, coach of the Mariners.
Mackenzie scored eight points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. She received a rousing cheer when she was the final player introduced at the start of the game, and was cheered every time she made a play from tipoff until the final buzzer.
She declined media interviews after the game.
After VIU's home games against the Columbia Bible College Bearcats in late October, Mackenzie made an Instagram post alleging unsporting play and trans discrimination, and said it's something she's faced repeatedly during her playing career.
Bryce said his team isn't using the incidents from last month as motivation; he said he would be disappointed if his players threw opponents to the court and he's hoping not to see something like that again.
"We're just doing our best to move on from a difficult situation and to do that, we have to have each others' backs and we do," the coach said. "We're going to keep fighting. It doesn't matter what you bring to us, we'll stay together and we'll push through it all."
In Friday's win, Makayla Kimble led the Mariners with 12 points and Allison Bentley scored 11. The Royals won the next day's rematch 80-72, with Mackenzie leading the M's with 23 points and 12 rebounds and Margarita Salas adding 15 points.
In men's action, VIU defeated Douglas 101-63 on Friday, then 109-83 on Saturday. In the first game, Kaeleb Johnson led the Mariners with 17 points and Kameron Bender scored 16. The next day, Peter Li led the M's with 26 points and Bender added 25.
GAME ON … VIU's basketball teams are on the road the next two weekends before closing out their fall schedule with home games Nov. 29-30 versus the Langara Falcons.
