1978-79 Regina – uSports women

	Victoria	55
	Winnipeg	47	Victoria	63
	Guelph	68	Guelph	60	Victoria	53
	Calgary	62
							—–LAURENTIAN
(4)	Bishop’s	76
(5)	New Brunswick	63	Bishop’s	52	Laurentian	61
(1)	Laurentian	72	Laurentian	75
(8)	Regina	51

The tournament was expanded to eight teams, including the five conference champs, a representative of the host conference (or host); the second-place finisher in the OWIAA and one wildcard. Teams were seeded 1-5 based on previous year’s results.

In the quarterfinals of what by 1979 was being referred to as the Norm Vickery Invitational, held in Regina, the Ontario champ Laurentian Lady Voyageurs clipped the host Regina Cougars 72-51. The Voyageurs only led 30-28 after the physical first half as their five inexperienced new starters struggled. But they opened the second half with an 8-0 run and romped. “We were definitely overconfident,” Vickery told Canadian Press. “Before the game everyone was talking about what a yawner it would be, about who we would play next. But we’ve been a second half club all year. Sometimes it takes us that long to get rolling.” Vickery told the Regina Leader-Post that “the ball just wouldn’t fall for us in the first half. It was a rough game. Regina’s a strong team and there was a lot of pushing and shoving. The referees told me they were calling it both ways but there was a lot of contact inside.” Cougars coach Sue Higgs said “we always play physical. Against Laurentian, you have to be. If we hadn’t been that way, we’d have been run out of the gym.” Laurentian outscored Regina 42-23 in the 2nd half. Sylvia Sweeney scored 29 and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Voyageurs. Agnes Baker added 13, Natalie Vukovich 10, Eileen Galuska 6, Jamie Mackie 6, Angie MacDonald 4, Allison Towriss 2 and Laura Donaldson 2. The Voyageurs hit 30-61 (.490) from the floor, 12-24 from the line, while nabbing 26 boards and committing 26 turnovers. Sharon Douglas led the Cougars with 19. Betty Hoffart added 10, Jan Tangjerd 10, MacKenzie 4, Patti Woods 4, along with 6 assists, Riffel 2 and Reesoe 2. The Cougars hit 22-58 (.370) from the floor and 7-11 (.640) from the line, while garnering 17 boards and 22 turnovers.

        Victoria clipped Winnipeg 55-47 on solid defence and the perimeter shooting of Tracie McAra. The 3rd-ranked Wesmenettes played an abysmal game. Victoria led by 17 with 13 to play and Winnipeg rallied no closer than eight at the buzzer. “We knew they’d go inside to (6-6) Debbie Steele,” Vikings coach Kathy Shields told Canadian Press. “We had no one who could contain her so we worked on pressuring the passer and keeping Steele from getting the second shot.” Wesmen coach Vic Pruden told the Regina Leader-Post “How many different ways can you say we played like [crap]. We didn’t get back into the game until it was too late. All the credit had to go to Victoria. It played as good as it’s going to.” Tracie McAra led Victoria with 17. Jane Favali added 10, Michelle Belanger 8, Luanne Hebb 8, Jane Boe 6, Sue Shaw 4 and Cindy Smith 1. The Vikes hit 22-54 (.400) from the floor and 11-17 from the line, while garnering 37 boards and 26 turnovers. Debbie Steele led Winnipeg with 11. All-Canadian Dori McPhail added 10, Gail Winston 10, Moira Pennycook 7, Donna Posnick 4, Kathy McPherson 4 and Yvette Milner 1. The Wesmen hit 21-61 (.340) from the floor and 5-13 (.380) from the line, while garnering 24 boards and 22 turnovers.

Guelph nipped Calgary 68-62 after rallying from a 37-28 halftime deficit. Ahead 40-28 early in the second half, Calgary fumbled its way to a 48-48 tie with six minutes to go. With the score tied at 60, Guelph twice stole the ball and raced for uncontested layups. The Gryphons repeatedly drove the ball right at the larger Dinnies and hit 17-23 from the floor in the half. “We’re not big,” Guelph coach Karen Lee told Canadian Press. “But we use our quickness to our best advantage.” Dinosaurs coach Marily McNeil told the Regina Leader-Post that “our defence was extremely poor in the second half. That did as much to kill us as our lack of offence. Guelph had all the little shots right under the basket, so poor.” Candy Clarkson paced the Gryphons with 28. Sue Lindley added 18, Ingrid Kihl 10, Julie 8, Cox 2, Miller 2 and McLean 2. The Gryphons hit 30-61 (.490) from the floor and 8-28 (.280) from the line, while garnering 19 boards and 21 turnovers. Holly Jackson-Peterson and Laura Buehning each scored 17 to lead Calgary. Janis Paskevich added 10, Lindy Rasmussen 6, Dawn Sprung 4, Jane-Anne Kosten 3, Barb Stewart 2, Colleen Finney 2 and Darla Wilson 2. The Dinosaurs hit 28-63 (.440) from the floor and 6-12 from the line, while garnering 29 boards and 20 turnovers. Dinosaurs coach Marilyn McNeil told the Calgary Herald that “all year long, I’ve said our biggest problem was not having a killer instinct. But today, we didn’t even have a winning instinct.” Guelph coach Karen Lee said “we’ve had the same problem ourselves. But today, I was really proud of our girls. We’re a young team and when you get to this level of competition, everyone is good. So, it’s a matter of psychology, getting your kids mentally ready to play … Man-to-man, there’s probably no one in the country who can defend Clarkson. Sue needs to be double-teamed but I was really happy with her work at both ends of the court. A lot of big girls don’t take as much pride in their defence as Candy does.” McNeil said “I can’t stand zone defences. I said that early in the year and I still feel that way. You just can’t stand still against a zone and expect to beat it but our kids think you don’t have to do anything. I thought Coleen (Finney) played her worst game in two years of varsity basketball, while Laura (Buehning) took some bad shots. She was pressing too hard, trying to do too much on her own. Our players thought they were so much taller than Guelph that they didn’t have to jump for rebounds. We must have had no rebounds in the second half.”

In the last quarterfinal, Bishop’s raced to 39-28 lead at the half and then coasted to a 76-63 victory over New Brunswick. “We did what we wanted to do,” coach Wayne Hussey told the Regina Leader-Post. “I was surprised how it went. Everyone let down at one time or another but someone was always there to pick up the slack.” Debbie Huband led the Gaiters with 18. Diane Murphy added 16, Helen McAuley 16, Sue Hylland 12, Cathy McGurk 12 and Sue Berwick 2. The Gaiters hit 33-72 (.460) from the floor and 10-17 from the line, while garnering 28 boards and 13 turnovers. “They played well defensively, a good team game and kept their composure,” Gaiters coach Wayne Hussey told the Campus. Cathy Maxwell led the Varsity Reds with 25. Claire Mitton added 20, Moira Pryde 8, Patty Sheppard 6, Kathy Jennings 2 and Liedy Scholten 2. The Varsity Reds hit 29-66 (.420) from the floor and 4-14 (.290) from the line, while garnering 25 boards and 22 turnovers.

In the semis, Victoria edged Guelph 63-60 in overtime. The semi also featured a precedent-setting replay of the game’s last eight minutes. A scorekeeper’s error had failed to register a basket scored by Guelph’s Linda Jolie on either the official scorecard or the scoreboard and Victoria won the game 52-51 on a driving layup by Tracie McAra. But Guelph would have won had the basket counted. Appeals committee chair Pat Jackson and referee-in-chief Winks Willox, who signed the scoresheet, upheld the appeal from Guelph, even though Victoria coach Kathy Shields argued that once the scoresheet is inked, it’s final. The committee reviewed the scoring stats and a video replay. “We took several procedures in judging whether or not the appeal should be upheld and we believe it should. The game will carry on as if the Guelph basket had just been scored. Victoria will have the ball and throw it in from its own end leading 44-39 on the scoreboard” with 9:04 left in the game. When Jolie had scored, the scorekeeper gave the points to Vic rather than Guelph, putting the Vikings ahead 46-37. When the problem was pointed out, the scorekeeper took the two points away from Vic but did not give them to Guelph. Guelph coach Karen Lee told Canadian Press the “game was two points out for the entire game. … My manager was keeping our statistics on the bench, but I thought that maybe in the heat of the game she had made a mistake. That’s why I didn’t argue so vigorously at the time.” Victoria guard Tracie McAra said the decision put the Vikettes at a disadvantage. “It’s just like taking the game away from us. We though when the officials sign the scoresheet at the end of the game it’s over. Now we have to go back out there and start all over.” In the replay, played at 9 a.m. the next morning, Victoria was forced into overtime before winning 63-60, playing without all-star Jane Favali, who’d gone down with a knee injury. “No one was down after last night but they were mad. We felt something was taken from us and we were out to get it back,” Kathy Shields said. Luanne Hebb paced the Vikes with 22. Michelle Belanger added 14, Sue Shaw 13, Tracie McAra 8, Jane Boe 2, Cindy Smith 2 and Jane Favali 2. Candy Clarkson paced the Gryphons with 18, despite twisting her ankle with eight minutes to play and being practically immobile at the buzzer. Sue Lindley added 14, Jolie 11, Mater 9, Kihl 6 and McMullan 2.

In the other semi, Laurentian pasted Bishop’s 75-52 as the Voyageurs bench and strength proved the difference. The Vees led 30-28 at half. Voyageurs coach Norm Vickery told the Regina Leader-Post “that man (Hussey) does a super job. I’m very impressed. His girls do exactly the right things. He put a zone on us because he knew it was the only way they could stay in the game. It was the first time we’ve been zoned for a full game by any Canadian team and we needed 20 minutes to adjust to it. And his girls are patient on offence and play smart. Wayne gets the best out of his people.” Hussey said “personally, I don’t think they should have been a coach of the year award for women’s ball. They should just give it to Norm and let him keep it until he loses the national championship. They’re always well prepared and do what they have to do. They’re really physical. They play like men and I mean that as a compliment. Hey, I wouldn’t want to go out and play them. I’ve played one-on-one with Sylvia Sweeney and she’s the calmest one of the bunch but she’s still rough … We got beat up. I was hoping for some help from the refs, that they’d call it tighter. They bumped us quite a bit. We play positional ball and they made us take the ball outside, which we didn’t want.” Vickery said Allison Towriss “kept us in the game in the first half. As the game changed, we became more patient and moved the ball around a touch more and it all came down to rebounding.” Eileen Galuska paced the Voyageurs with 25. Allison Towriss added 14, Agnes Baker 12, Natalie Vukovich 11, Sylvia Sweeney 8, Jamie Mackie 7, Martha Fortier 4 and Holly Vickery 1. The Voyageurs hit 31-78 from the floor and 13-18 (.720) from the line, while garnering 41 boards and 12 turnovers. Debbie Huband led the Gaiters with 18. Helen MacAuley added 12, Cathy McGurk 10, Sue Hylland 8, Lisa Dignard 2 and Sue Berwick 2. The Gaiters hit 25-58 from the floor and 2-6 from the line, while garnering 21 boards and 10 turnovers.

In the bronze medal match, Bishop’s thrashed Guelph 67-51 as Debbie Huband scored 21, Diane Murphy 14, Helen McAuley 12, Cathy McGurk 10, Sue Hylland 6 and Lisa Dignard 4. The Gaiters hit 27-72 (.370) from the floor and 13-19 (.680) from the line, while garnering 42 boards and 12 turnovers. Kihl led the Gryphons with 16. Jolie added 14, Sue Lindley 12, Miller 4, McLean 4 and Cox 2. The Gryphons hit 22-63 (.340) from the floor and 7-10 from the line, while garnering 36 boards and 20 turnovers.

Laurentian won its fifth straight final (and Vickery his seventh) by edging Victoria 61-53 but not before being taken to double-overtime. Natalie Vukovich hit two long jumpers early in the second overtime to key the win. Agnes Baker paced the Voyageurs with 19. Eileen Galuska added 14, Allison Towriss 10, Natalie Vukovich 8, Jamie Mackie 4, Sylvia Sweeney 4, along with 14 boards, and Angie MacDonald 3. The Voyageurs hit 27-59 (.460) from the floor and 8-17 (.470) from the line, while garnering 42 boards and 23 turnovers. Laurentian led 14-13 when coach Norm Vickery shifted to a full-court press and his troops ran off 12 unanswered points. Victoria closed to within 33-27 at the half and then after Voyageur Sylvia Sweeney fouled out, Luanne Hebb and Michelle Belanger keyed a rally for Victoria to knot the score at 49 in regulation play and at 51 to force overtime. Luanne Hebb scored 17, and nabbed 16 boards for Victoria. Former Voyageur Michelle Belanger scored 12, Sue Shaw 10, Cindy Smith 7, Tracie McAra 5 and Jane Boe 4. The Vikes hit 20-77 (.260) from the floor and 13-20 from the line, while garnering 39 boards and 28 turnovers. The Vees prevailed in the extra session, even though Towriss fouled out, as Agnes Baker notched a putback and Galuska two free throws and a spinning layup. “I think the key to our victory was the way we avoided fouls in the overtimes,” Vickery told the Regina Leader-Post. “Victoria was in the bonus situation throughout but we only fouled three times while staying aggressive enough on defence. We might have felt sorry for Victoria, too. Sometimes players do that and let down.” Sweeney said of her tourney MVP award that “no way I deserved it. 20 players were better than me.” Vickery said that “they were in the bonus for a long, long time but we only fouled three times, yet played aggressively enough to keep them off the scoreboard. We changed offences in the second overtime and went to a crisscross pattern and move the ball with more authority. Kathy and I were in a chess match from the second half on.” Kathy Shields said “I couldn’t ask for any more from my girls. They refused to lay down and die. Coming into the tournament, I didn’t think we’d get this far.” Voyageurs coach Norm Vickey told The Gauntlet that “it was a real chess game in the second half. I think a key factor was that we changed our offence against the zone in the second half. We went to what we call a criss-cross, and we started to move the ball with a lot of authority.”

        The all-tourney team featured: MVP Sylvia Sweeney (Laurentian); Debbie Huband (Bishop’s); Michelle Belanger (Victoria); Cathy Maxwell (New Brunswick); Candy Clarkson (Guelph); and Claire Mitton (New Brunswick)

The bronze medalist Bishop’s Gaiters: Debbie Huband; Helen McAuley; Sue Hylland; Lisa Dignard; Diane Murphy; Sue Berwick; Cathy McGuirk; Ellen Bazdell

        The silver medalist Victoria Vikings: Luanne Hebb; Jane Favali; Tracie McAra; Michelle Belanger; Jane Turner; Sue Shaw; Cindy Smith; Patti Peskiuetts; Jane Boe; Connie Hall; Brenda Smith; Marilyn Brain; coach Kathy Shields

        The champion Laurentian Lady Voyageurs: Sylvia Sweeney; Angie MacDonald; Allison Towriss; Eileen Galuska;

Agnes Baker; Eileen Buckingham; Laura Donaldson; Martha Fortier; Jamie Mackie; Alison McNeil; Terry Moss-Hanson; Holly Vickery; Natalie Vukovich; Donna Zirojevic; coach Norm Vickery; Peter Domengoni