| (1) | Sainte-Foy | |||||||
| (8) | Langara | Sainte-Foy | 63 | |||||
| (4) | Mount Royal | Mount Royal | 66 | Mount Royal | 59 | |||
| (5) | Dawson | |||||||
| —–LETHBRIDGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE | ||||||||
| (2) | Fraser Valley | |||||||
| (7) | St. Clair | Fraser Valley | 60 | Lethbridge CC | 65 | |||
| (3) | Lethbridge CC | Lethbridge Cc | 67 | |||||
| (6) | Mt. St. Vincent |
In the quarterfinals, the 3rd-seeded Lethbridge CC Kodiaks nipped the 6th-seeded Mount Saint Vincent Mystics 53-50. The Mystics started slowly in each half, relinquishing 9-2 and 10-4 runs at the start of each session. They also suffered a blow in pre-game warm-ups, when all-Canadian forward Erin Horne went down with a sprained ankle. “We just came out cold and couldn’t hit any shots or get anything going offensively,” said coach Dyrick McDermott. “In retrospect, losing all-Canadian Erin Horne prior to the start of the game may have set us back in those opening minutes. In having to replace her, we had to reset our offence and that forced us to settle for difficult shots early in the game.” The Mystics were also without reserve Wendy Mills, who broke her hand in practice earlier in the week. The Mystics three times rallied to within striking distance, including an 8-1 run that brought them to within 51-50 with under a minute to play. “We just kept believing and working hard on the defensive end of the floor,” said guard Kim Fralick. “This team is built on playing with pride and heart. We did that today even though we didn’t come up with that last shot.” Trailing 53-50 with 17 seconds to play, the Mystics set up guard Ashley Gould for a three-pointer that missed wide right. “Their defensive switch from zone to man defence following the timeout confused us to the point where our set play had to be abandoned,” said Fralick, who scored 11 for the Mystics. Amanda Irving, Elaine Horne, Leah McFadden, Ashley Gould and Jen Kinsella each added 8. Tara Griffith and Natasha Arthur paced Lethbridge with 11 apiece.
The 4th-seeded Mount Royal Cougars defeated the 5th-seeded Dawson Blues 80-45 as Jamie Bell and Brittany Paterson each scored 15 points. The Cougars never trailed after breaking a 5-5 tie two minutes into the affair. They led 41-17 at the half after shooting .830 from the field in the first frame. “We really put it all together tonight,” said coach Donovan Martin. “Everybody contributed. It was our best effort of the year.” Paterson, chosen player of the game, said “we really picked up our defence for this game. We just shut them down.”
The top-seeded Ste-Foy Dynamiques dumped the 8th-seeded Langara Falcons 62-38 after registering a 22-8 run to open the second half. “They have too much depth, size and speed across the board and that’s a deadly combination,” said Langara coach Mike Evans. “When you match against a team that has seven impact players against our team, which only has two or three, you’re looking at an uphill climb. We faced that fate today.” Lauren LaBrosse led the Falcons with 9 points. Alissa Flynn added 8. Myriam Lamarre paced Ste-Foy with 13 points.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Fraser Valley Cascades dumped the 7th-seeded St. Clair Saints 58-43 by limiting the Saints to .280 from the floor on 4-19 shooting in the second half. “We needed to make adjustments at the half and our girls responded, particularly Lauren Alonzo,” said coach Al Tuchscherer. “All the St. Clair offence revolves around its all-Canadian forward Raquel Burke. Lauren proved that she also was deserving of an all-Canadian selection. She is the premier defender in the country.” Burke scored 8 to keep the Saints within striking distance, 27-23 at the half. But Alonzo limited her to just 1 of 6 from the floor and three points in the second half. “I just needed to focus on positioning and I was able to achieve that following the half,” said Alonzo, who scored 16. “Experience was the difference in this game tonight. We’ve been here four years now and have learned how to recover from slow starts.” St. Clair opened by shooting 3-7 from the field to take a 12-2 lead. But the Cascades rallied back with their transition game to take a 21-19 lead with just over five minutes to play in the half. “They definitely caught us by surprise in those first few minutes of the game,” said guard Kalisha Reid, who scored 9 and grabbed 10 boards. “The experience of our four seniors set the tone for that second half scoring run that put the game out of reach. When you pair that with our depth on the bench, we have a serious chance to win this championship.” A forced turnover by Reid set the stage for back-to-back buckets by forward Jamie Born that closed out a 13-5 scoring run which gave the Cascades a 51-34 lead with seven minutes to play. Born finished with 12 points. Cousin Cassie Born scored 8. Tina Sirka and Raquel Burke each finished with 11 for St. Clair.
In the bronze quarterfinals, the 8th-seeded Langara Falcons dispatched the 5th-seeded Dawson Blues 62-57 as Laura Clark scored 25 and Alyssa Flynn 17. The Blues (coached by Trevor Williams, assisted by Dean Smith and Amanda Mats) included Selwa Maatoug, Katherine Wright, Fabienne Beausejour, Rebecca Hyppolite, Stephanie Bergerson, Joanne Giguere, Laura lee, Krystle Douglas, Marissa John, Irline Noel, Michelle Bien Aime, Natalie Larocque, Nathifa Weekes, Joannie LeDuc and Kareena St-Hilaire.
In the other bronze quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded Mount St. Vincent Mystics whipped the 7th-seeded St. Clair Saints 67-42 as Erin Horne and Jennifer Kinsella each scored 12. The Saints (coached by Linda Carriere, assisted by Jodi Sibley) included Tina Sirka, Danielle Ball, April Lounsberry, Nadine Phillip, Stephanie De Laat, Brittany Denboer, Kim Pawluk, Raquel Burke, Rinjus Chibani and Heather Jones.
In the semis, Jamie Bell and Susan Stefan each scored 15 as the 4th-seeded Mount Royal Cougars upset the top-seeded Ste-Foy Dynamiques. Chantal Vachon-Marceau led the Dynamiques with 21.
In the other semi, Tara Griffith scored 25 to lead the 3rd-seeded Lethbridge Kodiaks to a 67-60 win over 2nd-seeded Fraser Valley Cascades. Cascade guard Leah Garrigus dislocated her ankle in the first half. Cascades coach Al Tuchscherer told Canadian Press that “her leg was going one way and her foot was 90 degress the other way. … The team was devastated – you could see it in their eyes. They were in shock.” The game was delayed 20 minutes as Garrigus was taken to hospital. Lethbridge promptly went on an 8-0 run when the game resumed. Tuchscherer said “we tried to persevere but right away went down six points.” Later in the second half, Cassie Born was pushed into a concrete wall and was severely concussed. Tuchscherer noted that again, no foul was called on the play. Born was also taken to hospital.
In the bronze semis, the top-seeded Sainte-Foy Dynamiques clubbed the 6th-seeded Mount St. Vincent Mystics 64-48 as Myriam Lamarre scored 14. The Mystics (coached by Dyrick McDermott, assisted by Nadia MacDonald Lora Harvey) included Wendy Mills, Amanda Irving, Kim Fralick, Ashley Gould, Erin Horne, Jen Fortune, Elaine Horner, Brianna Taker, Leah McFadden, Ashley Bonang, Jennifer Kinsella and Lisa Richard.
In the other bronze semi, the 2nd-seeded Fraser Valley Cascades dumped the 8th-seeded Langara Falcons 66-50 as Shiloh Minor scored 15 and Lauren Alonzo 14. The Falcons (coached by Mike Evans, assisted by Dan Paxton) included Randi French, Laure Clark, Brianna Scarr, Lauren LaBrosse, Rachel Baldry, Ginny Evans, Alissa Flynn, Nina Adusei and Leah Credico.
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Fraser Valley Cascades defeated the top-seeded Sainte-Foy Dynamiques 73-64 as Kalisha Reid, Jamie Born and Laura Hanillan each scored 11. The Dynamiques (coached by Sonia Ritchie, assisted by Julie Dionne and Sebastien Boulanger) included Sarah Chouinard, Annick Routhier-Labadie, Chantale Vachon-Marceau, Genevieve Parent, Marie-Pier Lavoie, Genevieve Dupont, Marie-Pier Bilodeau, Caroline Bourque, Marie-Michelle Genois, Marie-Eve Douville and Myriam Lamarre.
In the final, Tara Griffith scored 18 points to lead the 3rd-seeded Lethbridge Kodiaks to a 65-59 win over the 4th-seeded Mount Royal Cougars. Micky Folson and Kathryn Bekkering each added 17. Mount Royal led for most the affair until Mickey Folson drained a trey with three minutes remaining to give Lethbridge a 59-57 lead. The Kodiaks then held the Cougars without a field goal down the stretch. “We couldn’t stop their two guards, Mickey Folsom and Tara Griffiths. They just went nuts, making phenomenal shots and twisting in mid-air,” said Mount Royal coach Donovan Martin. ‘We did everything right. We had em. It was just these two went off.” The Cougars led 32-26 at the half. Lauren Wallace led Mount Royal with 20, including a personal 8-0 run late in the first half. “Our shots just weren’t falling and there’s were. That was the difference,” Wallace said. Guard Mickey Folsom told The Endeavour that the squad’s 30-1 season and national title that the team was hopeful heading into the nationals. “It’s hard to not to think about it when everyone else is thinking about it. I think if we don’t make it, then it’s us beating ourselves, there’s no team better than us … I’m really excited about the season it was a life experience that I will never forget, but coach (Brad) Karren had a lot to do with it.” Karren said a national title “was our goal but we definitely had some work to do to get there.” Tara Griffith said “coach Karren always stressed the importance of teamwork, college ball is not like high school ball, where you can put the ball in the hands of the star and stand back and watch.” Karren said “when you get to this level, the play is very competitive, but you still have to try to make it a good experience for the players. You can scream and yell at them all the time, but I’m not sure they would enjoy it. We’ve focused on the big picture, not individual play. We’ve concentrated on finishing as a team.”
The all-tournament team featured: MVP Tara Griffiths (Lethbridge); Kathryn Bekkering (Lethbridge); Lauren Wallace (Mount Royal); Jamie Bell (Mount Royal); Lauren Alonzo (Fraser Valley); Myriam Lamarre (Cégep de Sainte-Foy)
The second team featured: Annick Routhier-Labadie (Sainte-Foy); Kalisha Reid (Fraser Valley); Raquel Burke (St. Clair); Kim Fralick (Mount Saint Vincent); and Alyssa Flynn (Langara)
The bronze medalist Fraser Valley Cascades: Kalisha Reid; Cassi Born; Jamie Born; Estee Clifford; Leah Garrigus; Laura Hallinan; Shiloh Minor; Lauren Alonzo; Deanna MaCrae; Ashley Teister; Alicia Borsoi; Olivia Hunt; Natalia Grzywna; coach Al Tuchscherer; assistant Denise Tuchscherer; assistant Steve Hussey; manager Angie Hayward; manager Baj Chohan; trainer Kristi Menzel; athletic director Mark Kosak
The silver medalist Mount Royal Cougars: Melissa Hatt; Michelle Anderson; Nadeane Jackson; Joanna Card; Savannah Magnussen; Ashley Guise; Lauren Wallace; Jessica Binder; Natalie Svarich; Jamie Bell; Erin Jopp; Brittany Paterson; Susan Stefan; Gina Guimont; Krista McMillan; Megan Klaus; coach Donovan Martin; assistant Wendy Klassen; assistant Callie Lomenda; therapist Jackie Neidrauer
The gold medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Tara Griffith; Mickey Folsom; Karma Kubik; Laura Campbell; Nisha Nelson; Kathryn Bekkering; Deana Dypolt; Nicole Hanna; Michaela Dilworth; Debbie Balderson; Karen Bridge; Alisha Marriott; Natasha Arthur; coach Brad Karren; assistant Kim Woolf; manager Erin Hogan; therapist Jim Manzara