Alberta 72            
  Toronto 66 Alberta 56        
  Bishop’s 89 Bishop’s 84 Bishop’s 70    
  Manitoba 57            
              —–BISHOP’S  
  Calgary 77            
  New Brunswick 62 Calgary 61 Winnipeg 62    
  Winnipeg 72 Winnipeg 73        
  Laurentian 62            

        In the quarterfinals, defending champion Bishop’s opened the draw by whipping host Manitoba 89-57. By halftime, the game was all but over as Andrea Blackwell pumped in 22 in leading the Gaiters to a comfortable 47-29 lead. Blackwell, who a year later would be coaching the Gaiters, finished with 35 points. Guard Lynn Polson added 20. Manitoba was led by Ester Johnson’s 22 points.

        Wildcard and Canada West runner-up Alberta dusted Ontario champ Toronto 72-66. The match pitted Alberta star Toni Kordic against Toronto phenom Angela Orton and through the first half, the two traded baskets as Alberta inched to a 42-41 halftime lead. The Blues went stone cold in the second half, however, and at one point were held scoreless for a seven-minute stretch. Alberta pulled ahead by 11 and held off a late Toronto rally. Kordic finished with 19 points and teammate Shelaine Kozakavich added 20. Orton scored 34 for the Blues.

        Canada West champ Calgary easily handled Atlantic champion New Brunswick 77-62. The Dinosaurs breezed to a 20-8 margin after seven minutes and led 43-29 at the half. Jane Adolphe led the Dinnies with 18. Debbie Patterson added 13 and Karla Karch 12. Janet Nichols led the Red Bloomers with 22. Sue McMaster added 21. All-Canadian Jennifer George was held to just 8. Red Bloomers assistant Andy Cheam told The Brunswickan “it just wasn’t in the cards. When you are unable to plan a man-to-man defence in a halfcourt situation, you are going to be in trouble, no matter who you play. And the mental breakdowns in that situation hurt us.”

        In the last quarterfinal, GPAC champ Winnipeg dispatched Laurentian, undefeated in the OUAA East regular season, 72-62. The Wesmenettes, fresh from their victory over Brandon in the GPAC finals, trailed 40-37 at the half but used a stifling defence to pressure Laurentian in the second half, causing the Vees to shoot poorly and repeatedly turn over the ball. Winnipeg, which shot 52% from the floor and 66% from the line, was led by Cathy Holtman’s 28 points and 13 rebounds. Beth Cochran added 23 points and 13 boards. Laurentian, which shot 41% from the floor and an abysmal 40% from the line, was led by Anne Rimes’ 14 points. Joy Bellinger added 12. Laurentian’s Peter Ennis noted that “I think perhaps they out-sized us at just one extra position. I mean, we each had a hard time trying to keep our match up on Belinsky, Cochran, and, uh, I think it’s Holtman? Two, we could handle. Three, we had trouble with.”

        Bishop’s continued its march to the title with an 84-56 win over Alberta in the semi-finals. The Gaiters opened the game with a 14-0 run and led 43-26 at the half. Lynn Polson led the Gaiters with 40 points, including 19-28 from the field, while Andrea Blackwell added 20 points and 13 rebounds. The Pandas, who shot 24-57 from the field, were led by Toni Kordic’s 10 points. Sue Tokariuk added 22. Lynn Polson noted that “it’s hard to keep plugging away when you know you’re going to the nationals. But we look at it this way. Our practices are boring, so every time we get to play a game, it’s something to look forward to. It’s a big thing to finally get on the court after five straight days of practice … We like to keep the lead up around 20 points. When it’s at that level, we can stay relaxed.” Alberta coach Debbie Shogan said “we need another really big person to compliment Toni. They obviously knew Toni was the person to stop and just sat on her.”

        In the other semi, Winnipeg defeated Calgary 73-61. It was all Dinosaurs early as they build a 33-32 lead at the half and led 45-38 with a scant seven minutes to go after Beth Cochran, Kathy Holtman and Jill Mathez got in foul trouble for the Wesmenettes. But Winnipeg roared back on the rebounding of Deb Belinsky and the hot shooting of both Belinsky and Mathez, closing the margin to one, 59-58 with four minutes to go. The flustered Dinosaurs went stone cold from the floor and Winnipeg went on an 8-0 run, outscoring the Dinosaurs 15-2 in the final four minutes. Belinsky finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Mathez with 19. Cochran was the game’s high scorer with 22 points. She also grabbed 12 rebounds. Jane Adolphe led Calgary with 12 points, while Hendrix added 11. Karsh, Pacheco and Patterson each scored 10. Winnipeg coach Tom Kendall noted Belinsky “was our leading defensive rebounder in the first half. That is something. She usually doesn’t. But that is the thing that really kept us in the game when our big kids went out with foul trouble.”

        In the bronze medal match, Calgary dumped Alberta 72-66 as Brenda Abbott scored 18, Julie Hendrix 18, Jane Adolphe 12 and Karla Karch 12.

        In the final, Bishop’s defeated Winnipeg 70-62. The game was close, for about five minutes, before Bishop’s went on a 10-0 run and essentially put the outcome out of reach. The Gaiters led 40-30 at the half and had stretched the lead to 15 with five minutes to go. Winnipeg rallied no closer than 10. The Gaiters held Winnipeg to 42% from the floor, while themselves shooting a scorching 57% FG percentage. Lynn Polson led the Gaiters with 24 points. Andrea Blackwell added 20, while guard Wendy Verrechia scored 18 and nabbed 8 rebounds. Winnipeg was led by Cochran’s 21 points. Karen Ridd added 10. Bishop’s coach Wayne Hussey told Canadian Press that “I can remember one game we lost that we shouldn’t have when Lynn (Polson) came off the floor and kicked a basketball and did a few other things like that. We talked about it right then and there. I told them to look at it as a game. Life has its ups and downs. I try to get my players to take a low-key approach and try to handle situations with maturity and poise …whatever, I don’t know what the word is. … We put a lot of time in it. We wanted to go out as winners. That was our main goal all year for the four of us. To come back to this tournament, and try to win it twice in a row. Sometimes, it’s easy to win it once but the true test is to win it two or three times.” Winnipeg coach Tom Kendall said the game was physical and chippy. “One thing you have to understand is people who have played international ball (like Polson and Blackwell) know how to play dirty without showing it.” Polson said “we expected them to be aggressive. But it still did shake us up a bit. …we’ve learned more and more every year to keep our cool and not be cocky. You win respectfully. You lose respectfully. That’s the way Wayne is. Quiet and very good to play for.” Kendall said that “nice tries doesn’t mean anything to me. The fact is these kids played the game of their lives and lost by eight points. They couldn’t have done anything different in order to beat them.” Bishop’s finished (25-1) on the season.

        The all-tourney team featured: co-MVP Andrea Blackwell (Bishop’s); co-MVP Lynn Polson (Bishop’s); Beth Cochran (Winnipeg); Julie Hendrix (Calgary); Cathy Holtmann (Winnipeg); Karla Karch (Calgary); and Wendy Verrechia (Bishop’s)

The bronze medalist Calgary Dinosaurs: Julie Hendrix; Jane Adolphe; Debbie Patterson; Brenda Abbott; Karla Karch; Lynn Whan; Carol Ploen; Julie Dais; Diane Bailey; Jolayne Anderson; Elise Adolphe; Claudia Pacheco; coach Donna Roman

        The silver medalist Winnipeg Wesmenettes: Beth Cochran; Deb Belinsky; Cathy Holtman; Karen Ridd; Angela Mol; Jill Mathez; Marla Hildebrand; coach Tom Kendall

        The champion Bishop’s Gaiters: Andrea Blackwell; Lynn Polson; Wendy Verrechia; Wendy Waters; Kelly Tucker; Joanne Gordon; Michele O’Keefe; Alison Booth; Nancy Gillies; Louise Levesque; Lisa Moore; Fiona Seymour; coach Wayne Hussey