| (5) | Toronto | 85 | ||||||
| (4) | Winnipeg | 59 | Toronto | 73 | ||||
| (1) | Calgary | 74 | Calgary | 78 | Calgary | 92 | ||
| (8) | Laurentian | 55 | ||||||
| —–CALGARY | ||||||||
| (6) | U.P.E.I. | 82 | ||||||
| (3) | Regina | 81 | U.P.E.I. | 68 | U.P.E.I. | 55 | ||
| (2) | Victoria | 68 | Victoria | 58 | ||||
| (7) | Laval | 61 |
In the quarterfinals, held in Sudbury, the 6th-seeded UPEI Panthers stunned the 3rd-seeded Regina Cougars 82-81 on a Lori Knickle free throw with a minute to go. Deanna Schmyr had an opportunity to win the game for the Cougars in the dying seconds but missed two of three free throws. UPEI led 44-43 at the half. Paula Edwards paced the Panthers with 19 points. Susan Knickle added 14. Jackie Moore led Regina with 28.
The top-seeded Calgary Dinosaurs defeated the host and 8th-seeded Laurentian Voyageurs 74-55. The Dinosaurs opened with a 10-3 run that left the host fans sitting on their hands. “The adrenalin was really going and we were missing some shots,” point guard Debbie Patterson, who scored 23, told Canadian Press. “We were missing, but not by much, only a centimeter or two. With them playing at home and all, it really got the crowd pumped. As soon as we started to hit our outside shots, the crowd quieted down quite a bit.” The Dinosaurs took command of the paint as Veronica VanderSchee and Karen Degner put the game out of reach. “That has been the key to our success all year,” said VanderSchee, who scored 17 and grabbed 10 boards. “When one aspect of our game isn’t hitting, we have the people to make up for it in different ways.” Shirlene McLean led Laurentian with 23, including the Lady Vees first 11 points. “I thought that if we could limit Calgary to about 65 or 70 points, we might be able to make it interesting,” said Laurentian coach Peter Ennis. “Everything went according to plan, except that we didn’t score 75.” Calgary outshot Laurentian from the field .430 to .260. Degner scored 13 and grabbed 9 boards, while holding rival 6-2 post Chantal St. Martin to 6 points and 4 boards.
The Victoria Vikes clipped the Laval Rouge et Or 68-61 as Kelly Boucher scored 16, Heather Conway 13, Jenny Sutton 9, Heather Bohez 9, Kim Poland 7, Adele Fedorak 6, Tara Gallaway 5 and Kathy Keats 3, while Susan Loney and Lynnette Schramm were scoreless. Lisa Vaillancourt paced the Rouge et Or with 28. Lucie Bellemare added 13, Chantal Dennis 8, Sylvia Gouthier 5, Nathalie Caron 3, Sonia Ritchie 2 and Nathalie Bussieres 2.
In the last quarterfinal, the 5th-seeded Toronto Varsity Blues whipped the 4th-seeded Winnipeg Wesmenettes 85-49 as Mary Ann Kowal scored 28. Michelle Johnson led Winnipeg with 22. Terri Martin added 16. Toronto broke to a 10-1 lead and were never threatened, leading 46-20 at the half.
In the semis, Calgary came back from a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat Toronto 78-73. Cori Blakebrough hit five points in the final three minutes to help the Dinosaurs pull out the win. Blakebrough sank a pair of free throws to knot the score at 71 with 2:42 to play. Karen Degner hit a bucket in the blocks to give Calgary its first lead with 1:50 to play. Veronica VanderSchee, who scored 28, including 16 in the second half and six over the course of the final five minutes, notched a bucket and then Blakebrough drilled a three-pointer with 17 seconds on the clock to ice the win. “We dug the hole. We had to get ourselves back out of it,” said Calgary coach Donna Rudakas. “This was, to me, our finest game ever.” Mary Ann Kowal led Toronto with 26, including 17 in the first half. Blakebrough conceded that she contemplated a loss at halftime. “OK, at halftime, when I was sitting in the locker room thinking about what had happened, I thought we were going to lose the game. But as soon as we sunk that first basket in the second half, I knew we could win it.” Trailing 67-54 with six minutes to play, Blakebrough and Veronica VanderSchee took command. VanderSchee noted that “never, ever have I seen a team show the same amount of character that we did today. That we never gave up, especially when we haven’t been down like that all year, is the positive feeling imaginable. All year, we’ve been up. Things have been given to us. This was a critical test for our team.” The Dinosaurs shot a paltry .250 over Toronto’s compacted zone in the first half. Coach Donna Rudakas said she was at a loss over what to tell her troops in the locker. “What could I say? We went over a few technical things like breaking their zone and press but the players themselves knew they had to start hitting.” That they did. Reserve Sue Jickling added 9 points off the bench in the second half. Jodi Evans dished 7 assists. Blues coach Michele Belanger told the Varsity “it was the best game of the tournament. It should have been the final. … We caught them (Calgary) with their pants down. They probably hadn’t had a tough game all year. Our inexperience really showed in the last two minutes.”
In the other semi, the UPEI Panthers continued their improbable run by dumping Victoria 68-58. “We haven’t got a lot of respect from teams in the CIAU, especially teams in the West,” said Susan Knickle, one of three sisters on the Panthers squad. Knickle scored 17, including a critical trey with two minutes to play that sunk the Vikings. “This should make people stand up and say ‘UPEI isn’t a fluke’. We belong. We deserve to be here,” Knickle said. Tracie Bowie added 14 for the Panthers, Stephanie Smith 13, Janet Nicholls 11, Paula Edwards 6, Kathy Quinn 5 and Lori Knickle 2, while Tobey Jones, Kelly Shea and Stephanie Knickle were scoreless. Shannon Conway led Victoria with 14. Heather Bohez added 9, Kim Poland 9, Adele Fedorak 8, Kelly Boucher 8, Jenny Sutton 7 and Kathy Keats 3, while Tara Gallaway and Lynnette Schramm were scoreless.
In the bronze medal match, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the Victoria Vikettes 64-53. Mary Ann Kowal scored 21 for the Blues. Jenny Sutton led Victoria with 17. Nicki Berswick told the Varsity that “the pace was obviously slower than the day before. There were a lot of missed shots and the score was really low at halftime. After the first five minutes we realized we were playing for the bronze and we played better.”
Calgary finished the season undefeated with its 92-55 thrashing of PEI in the final. Karen Degner scored 21 and grabbed 15 boards. “Our concern was not with UPEI. As I said to the players at the start of the game, it’s show time and it’s time to perform,” said Calgary coach Donna Rudakas. Calgary was completely dominant. “I don’t think we showed the people here how well we could play until today,” said fifth-year post Degner. “I’m just so happy we didn’t mess up, that we got what we deserved. It’s nice to end the season with a convincing win like this.” The Dinos capped a perfect (36-0) season by capturing the crown. Jodi Evans, who scored 16, grabbed 11 boards and dished 5 assists, said the Dinosaurs were determined to avoid the sort of lapse that they had in the semis against Toronto. “We wanted to come out and play our best game in the national and that’s what we did.” The duo of Degner and Veronica VanderSchee scored 27 of Calgary’s 34 points as the Dinosaurs dominated the paint and built a quick double-digit lead. UPEI coach Dave MacNeill tried a zone, man-to-man and matchup defences to shut them down but nothing worked. “What we needed out there was for Toronto to join us,” MacNeill quipped. “Seriously, we knew we’d have to have a great game to beat Calgary and I was a bit disappointed with the way we came out during the first 8 or 10 minutes. Rudakas said that after two tough games, “tonight we showed what got us here: team and performance.” And a good bench. “Everybody wanted to be part of it,” said Evans. “We wanted to have everybody scoring and let everybody play.” Sue Knickle led the Panthers with 14.
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Veronica VanderSchee (Calgary); Karen Degner (Calgary); Shirlene McLean (Laurentian); Jackie Moore (Regina); Mary Ann Kowal (Toronto); and Susan Knickle (U.P.E.I.)
The bronze medalist Toronto Varsity Blues: Susan Barzo; Nicki Berswick; Sharon Butler; Denise Galipeau; Mary Ann Kowal; Debbie LaBarrie; April McClellan; Samantha Reed; Denise Scott; Kathy Soce; Martina Stirpe; Joan Stock; Suzy Dabovic; coach Michele Belanger; assistant Jim Henderson; assistant Tom O’Brien
The silver medalist Prince Edward Island Panthers: Lori Knickle; Tracy Bowie; Paula Edwards; Tobey Jones; Susan Knickle; Janet Nichols; Kathy Quinn; Kelly Shea; Stephanie Smith; Stephanie Knickle; coach Dave MacNeill; assistant Karen Rowell
The champion University of Calgary Dinosaurs: Debbie Patterson; Karen Degner; Cori Blakebrough; Veronica VanderSchee; Jodi Evans; Sue Jickling; Lisa Schirok; Claire Mitenko; Cathy Johnson; Patti Cumming; Linda Orr; Denise McPhee; Shawn Roscoe; Shannon Bellmond; coach Donna Rudakas