1977-78 Calgary – uSports women

			Laurentian	60
			Calgary	51	Laurentian	69
							—–LAURENTIAN
	Victoria	73			Winnipeg	54
	Bishop’s	58	Victoria	59
	Winnipeg	80	Winnipeg	67
	New Brunswick	78

In the quarterfinals, held in Calgary, the GPAC champ Winnipeg Wesmenettes, who’d finished 16-0 in league play and breezed through the GPAC playoffs with two convincing wins over Regina, nipped the University of New Brunswick Red Bloomers 80-78. Heading in the tournament, Winnipeg coach Vic Pruden noted that “I’m convinced now nobody will beat us. The only way we’ll lose is if we beat ourselves.” The Wesmenettes wee by national team members Gail Winston, a transfer from the U. of Manitoba, and Dori MacPhail but diminutive 5’5 guard Cathy McPherson proved to be the opening round hero against the AUAA champ Red Bloomers. The Wesmen trailed the entire game, including being down 20 in the first half and 50-33 at halftime before tying the game in the last minute. With two seconds to play, McPherson was fouled trying to rebound a Dori McPhail jumper. She hit both free throws. “That was a good game for us,” said Pruden. “We had a terrible first half. But after the girls got over the slow start they were very persistent and kept coming and coming.” Cathy Dubesky paced Winnipeg with 23. Gail Winston added 20, Debbie Steele 10 and McPhail 10. Winnipeg hit 35-63 from the field. Cathy Maxwell scored 18 to lead New Brunswick.

        In the other quarterfinal, Victoria thumped Quebec champ Bishop’s 73-58 as 5-8 guard Carol Turney scored 31 on 14-22 from the line. Sisters Leslie and Shelley Godfrey each added 10, Marg Mainwaring 8, Luanne Hebb 8 and Mairi Ann Longmore 6. Vikings coach Mike Gallo, honored earlier as the nation’s top mentor on the campaign, retired after the season. Debbie Huband scored 24 to pace Bishop’s. Linda McPherson added 12, Dianne Murphy 8, Helen McAuley 8, Lisa Dignard 2, Inger Breida 2 and Cathy McGurk 2. Bishop’s had 27 turnovers compared to Vic’s 18. The Vikings out-rebounded Bishop’s 34-32 and outshot them from the floor, .460 to .440.

In the semis, Laurentian defeated Calgary 60-51 as Jan Trombly, from upstate New York, used her powerful inside game to score 16, Chris Critelli 14, Kim Hansen 8 and Michelle Belanger 8. Trombly was in foul trouble for most of the second half. “She didn’t go to the offensive boards in the second half,” Lady Vees coach Norm Vickery told the Calgary Herald. “I told her to just for defensive rebounds. I wanted her to stay alive and be around at the end of the game.” Calgary looked like caught in the headlights in the first half, committing 24 turnovers, and 42 on the night. The Voyageurs led 34-20 at the half. Janis Paskevich scored 12 for the Dinnies and nabbed 9 boards. Holly Jackson added 8, Darla Wilson 8, Lori Nelson 8 and Anne Miller 5. Calgary outrebounded Laurentian 32-25. Dinos coach Marilyn McNeil said “it’s okay to talk about moral victories but it would have been more of a moral victory if we’d scored 10 more points. We played exceptionally well in the second half. If we’d show more offence, we could have beaten them. … The players were extremely nervous in the first half. They didn’t know where they were. They didn’t know where the basket was. After we settled down, we played some good defensive basketball but by that time, it a little too late. … Jackie Shaw (who was held scoreless and fouled out) had a rough game. She found Chris Critelli a little too tough to handle.”

In the other semi, Winnipeg dumped Victoria 67-59 as Gail Winston, Dori McPhail and Cathy Dubesky each scored 16. Debbie Steele added 11, Cathy McPherson 4 Lucy Burdz 2 and Sue Johnson 2. Steele swarmed Vikings guard Carol Turney, who scored 20 to pace Victoria. Marg Mainwaring added 14, Leslie Godfrey 13, Luanne Hebb 6, Shelley Godfrey 4 and Mairi Anne Longmore 2. Winston went down with an ankle injury but returned after six minutes. Vic had been undefeated in league play and led by nine early and then 36-35 at halftime after scoring 11 unanswered points to close out the half. “Laurentian,” an excited Winnipeg coach Vic Pruden said after the game. “We’ll worry about them tomorrow.” Pruden told the Calgary Herald “I’m not really surprised we won that easy. I’ve told my girls all along that they don’t’ have to be great to win this tournament, just steady.”

In the bronze qualifier, Bishop’s defeated Calgary 57-52 as Debbie Huband scored 15, Helen McAuley 15 and Linda McPherson 12. The Gaiters hit .460 from the floor. Wilson led Calgary with 13. Jackie Shaw added 13, Lori Nelson 10 and Holly Jackson 10. The Dinos outrebounded Bishop’s 41-24 and hit .330 from the floor. Bishop’s coach Wayne Hussey told the Calgary Herald that “I’m just so happy we’ve got this far. We come from a pretty small university (enrolment 1280) and we’re right out in the sticks but somehow this team plays consistently well when it had to. I was surprised Calgary didn’t try to come inside on our zone defence. If they had, we could have had serious trouble.” Dinosaurs coach Marilyn McNeil said “we tried to (go inside) but the girls kept gunning from outside. They couldn’t see where their best offensive chances were. We definitely needed somebody who can shoot consistently from outside the key. Nobody was doing it tonight.”

In the bronze medal match, Bishop’s defeated New Brunswick 71-65 as tournament MVP Deb Huband scored 29, Linda MacPherson 16 and Helen McAuley 12. Gaiters coach Wayne Hussey told the Calgary Herald that “I just couldn’t be happier. We played good defence and Debbie proved to be the most consistent scorer in the tournament.”

In the final, Laurentian stomped Winnipeg 69-54 in a rematch of the 1977 final. Fifth-year centre Jan Trombly, a native of Chazy, NY. scored 23, and Chris Critelli added 18. Donna Posnick had 12 for Winnipeg. Laurentian coach Norm Vickery, a native of Taber, Alberta, who captured his sixth national crown in seven years and his fourth with Laurentian, told Canadian Press that “we had consistent offence and defence. We called time out with seven of eight minutes to go in the half and got together on defence. That got us going on offence.” The Wesmenettes played with a hobbled guard Winston. “Not having her hurt us an awful lot,” Pruden said, particularly in the last eight minutes of the first half when Laurentian threw a press at Winnipeg and went on a 20-2 run to take a 40-20 lead into the lockers. Winnipeg never recovered. The Wesmenettes ended up with 27 turnovers to 16 for Laurentian. In the second half, Winnipeg managed to close the gap to eight but could draw no closer. “It was no shock losing, I’ve been around long enough,” Pruden added. “Laurentian was the best team there. After playing two tough games we were emotionally drained. We were tired and it wasn’t from not being in good physical condition.”

 The all-tourney team featured: MVP Debbie Huband (Bishop’s); Chris Critelli (Laurentian); Cathy Dubesky (Winnipeg); Jan Trombly (Laurentian); Carol Turney (Victoria); and Gail Winston (Winnipeg)

The bronze medalist Bishop’s Gaiters: Debbie Huband; Linda MacPherson; Helen McAuley; Inge Breida; Lise Dignard; Wanda Himes; Diane Murphy; Cathy McGurk; coach Wayne Hussey

The silver medalist Winnipeg Wesmenettes: Debbie Steele; Kathy Dubesky; Gail Winston; Dori McPhail; Donna Posnick; Lucy Burdz; Yvette Milner; Karen Dinse; Kathy Dubesky; Susan Johnson; Kathy McPherson; Deb Lovatt; coach Vic Pruden

The champion Laurentian Lady Voyageurs: Chris Critelli; Jan Trombly; Kim Hansen; Laura Donaldson; Michelle Belanger; Allison Towriss; Cathy Jennings; Agnes Bolson; Ann Briseland; Teresa Kowal; Angie MacDonald; Natalie Vukovic; coach Norm Vickery; trainer Marianne Disano; manager Terry Hanson