Final regular season standings (9): Red Deer (13-3); Lethbridge (11-5); SAIT (11-5); Augustana (11-5); Mount Royal (10-6); Grande Prairie (4-12); Medicine Hat (4-12); Grant MacEwan (4-12); NAIT (4-12)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Grant MacEwan: P Kuzio, Patti Pare, M Gorman, Trina Metz, Leanne Neiman, T Ford, C Krenz, Christine Neiman, K Belcham, Val Skelly
Grande Prairie: Loralyn Murdoch, M Forster, K Wardill, Toni Martins, Lee Davies, E Alloway, A Bubenik, B Thompson, Leanne Beida, T Giggey, L Machnee
Medicine Hat: Coralee Hauck, Crystal Ilg, Tammy Rombough, G McCaw, Heather Amulung, T Stager, Jodi Atchinson, Laurieann Dirk, Brenda Bower, Svava Thorsteinson, Kelly Shynkaruk, D Olson, coach Cheryl Kryluk
Mount Royal: Joanne Clark, C Burge, A Trenholm, Jody Hooker, D Ingwerson, Suzan Meyers, T Jones, L Layton, Leslie Cadman, A Gailus, C Dubourg, N Clay, T Jardine
NAIT: Jodie Deford, Erica Price, Coreen Chizewski, Leanne Sallebach, Robbie Ross, J Homer, Michelle Dorval, Lisa Schmidt, Brenda Kendall, D McFarlane, D Bullock, J Ross, S Davidge, Toni Ostrem, coach Gregg Meropoulis
In the semis, the Red Deer Queens defeated the SAIT Trojans 70-53; 72-49 (2g-0). SAIT’s Avery Harrison earns coach of the year laurels for his team’s remarkable turnaround in 1992. They’d finished 3-13 record in 1991, rebounded with an 11-5 campaign in 1992. …………………………………………………… In game one, the Queen’s pounded the Trojans 70-53 as Nadine Traptow scored 18, Bonnie Plowman 15, Tracy Henger 13, Bev Tanner 6 and Janice Stevens 6. Queens coach Pat Rawlusky told the Red Deer Advocate that “the girls came determined and played with intensity from the outset. If we want to play this well, we’re tough to beat. We’re 8, 9, 10 players deep, something they’re not.” Trojans coach Avery Harrison said “it wasn’t so much that we played poorly, they played that well. They simply outplayed us, purely and simply. There was no way we were going to beat that team tonight.” The Queens led 42-26 at the half and shot 27-48 from the floor, 16-25 from the line and 0-6 from the arc. The Trojans shot 18-55 from the floor, 14-23 from the line and 1-2 from the arc. Joanne Veira paced the Trojans with 17. Heather Altenhof added 9, Karen Luba 9 and Sheila Bergen 8. …………………………………………………… In game two, Red Deer completed the series sweep with a 72-49 victory as Tracy Henger scored 16, Michelle Johnstone 13, Bonnie Plowman 13, Nadine Traptow 9 and Cindy Friesen 9. The Queens led 42-30 at the half. Trojans coach Avery Harrison told the Red Deer Advocate that “we knew from the outside that if they came to pla, they had the potential to blow us out.” Joanne Viera led the Trojans with 13. Sheila Bergen added 10, Karen Luba 8 and Michelle Rennie 8. The Trojans (coached by Avery Harrison) also included Katie MacLeod, Bobbi-Jo Helle, Kerry Rath, Marnie Carlson, Heather Altenhof, M Haines, C Caywood, A Browning, Joanne Gauld and C Callas.
In the other semi, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the Augustana Vikings 82-41; 59-54 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, the Kodiettes prevailed 82-41 as Joanne Smallbones scored 17 and nabbed 12 boards. Jill Carley added 16 and nabbed 17 boards. Wendy Doram 13 and Shauna Kormos 10, while point guard Lisa Ressler dictated the tempo and defensive stopper Jana Dezell held Viking star Trish Lorenz to 11. Arna Bryant added 8 for the Vikings. The Kodiaks shot 54% from the field, while the Vikings were 21%. “We were shooting unconscious in the second half,” said Kodiak coach Karie Tollestrup. “Our game percentage was 54 per cent but it seemed much higher, I thought it was around 90 per cent. But don’t count Camrose out. They definitely aren’t like some teams that will quit after a game like tonight.” Although Joanne Smallbones and Jill Carley found themselves in early foul trouble, the Kodiak bench stepped up. “We’re starting to attack the zone really well,” said Tollestrup. …………………………………………………… In game two, the Kodiaks completed the sweep with a 59-54 win, despite playing without Joanne Smallbones, who had to sit out the game after receiving a flagrant technical in game one. They exploded to a 20-2 lead but the Vikings rallied within two in the final 30 seconds. A clutch trey from Wendy Doram and a putback and free throw by Jill Carley proved just enough of a margin. “Not having Joanne was a big disappointment,” said coach Karie Tollestrup. “We thought we were going to have her until game time. The biggest factor was we let down defensively. They scored a lot of high percentage shots on us from inside the paint.” The Kodiaks also struggled against the Viking’s pressure defence. ““We didn’t expect that pressure,” said Tollestrup. “We felt the team would break it, but it caused us some problems. But, down the stretch we never gave them the lead once and that was critical.” Tollestrup noted that “I don’t think our team stepped back. Our team was tired. … Some things just didn’t go as well and yet we maintained our composure.” Vikings coach Yvonne Becker noted that “we wanted to get in their faces and make them put the ball down on the floor and then fall back into a player-on-player defence and we did a good job.” Jill Carley paced the Kodiettes with 20 points and 19 boards. Shauna Kormos added 12 and Wendy Doram 10. Trish Lorenz paced the Vikings with 22. Jyl Stanford added 13. Vikings coach Yvonne Becker told the Endeavour that “we wanted to get in their faces, and make them put the ball down on the floor and then fall back into a player-player defence and we did a good job.” Tollestrup was pleased with her team’s mental toughness. “I don’t think our team stepped back. Our team was tired, we played very hard last night, and had to come out and face a second game after a big win. Some things just didn’t go as well and yet we maintained our composure.” The Vikings (coached by Yvonne Becker) also included Laura Wesley, L Karl, L Strain, L Harmatiuk, Arna Bryant, S Thompson, C Larson, C Lang, M Blades and M Polutrauko.
In the final, the Red Deer Queen’s defeated the Lethbridge Kodiaks 59-55; 58-62; 67-54 (2g-1). The host team won each game in the finals.
In game one, Red Deer prevailed 59-55 by capitalizing on 13 Lethbridge turnovers in the first half. Tracy Henger led the Queens with 17. Nadine Traptow added 6. Joanne Smallbones led the Kodiettes with 16. Jill Carley added 12, along with 15 rebounds, and Shauna Kormos 12. Henger told the Red Deer Advocate that “I was lucky. They kept (5-7 Jana Dezall) on me and I was able to post up on her. It was more luck than skill.” Queens coach Pat Rawlusky said “we had the first game jitters. We weren’t taking good shots most of the time and weren’t shooting from the outside. Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup told the Lethbridge Herald that “he team played a very good game, Red Deer is a big team but we outrebounded them 44-28 and we were down 10 at the half but battled back to lead most of the second half. I’m very proud of our team, if it hadn’t been for a press and 13 turnovers just before the half, we would have won the game.” Tracy Henger scored 10 points in the final four minutes to pull out the win for the Queens. The Kodiaks played without starter Wendy Doram, who broke her hand in practice, and guard Sue Groenenboom, who tore an ACL late in the regular season. The Queen’s hit 20-43 from the floor, 14-23 from the line and 1-7 from the arc. The Pronghorns hit
In game two, Lethbridge evened the series with a narrow 62-58 overtime despite trailing most of the affair. Lethbridge coach Karie Tollestrup told the Endeavour that “we were just very focused on ourselves and individually in the first half. We weren’t playing as a team at all. We couldn’t get going offensively.” Joanne Smallbones hit two free throws to knot the score at 50 and force overtime. The Kodiaks trailed by three with 14 seconds to play but got the ball inside to Smallbones for a bucket and a foul, hitting the free throw to force overtime. Red Deer coach Pat Rawlusyk disagreed with the foul call. “I don’t know what he called. I think the referees decided the game.” Tollestrup said that once Smallbones hit the free throws, “I knew we could get it into her (in overtime) and she would score everything from under the basket from then on.” The Queens led 39-28 at the half. Smallbones added five more points and a key steal in the overtime, while Jana Dezall provided a clutch three-pointer. The Queens lost veteran star Nadine Traptow to fouls, but star shooter Tracy Henger was still in the lineup and continued scoring as if on automatic. “Henger hurt us again, she’s a team leader,” said Kodiak forward Jill Carley. “We just had to try and defend against everyone, else.” Carley helped ignite the LCC rally with three straight field goals and remained a force on the boards. She also effectively contained Traptow. “Jill does a great job of denying Nadine the ball,” said Kodiak coach Karie Tollestrup. “Traptow had just six shots tonight and the other night in Red Deer had just three shots. Everything this team has done has been with a lot of pride and against all odds. But we have to stop opening games so slowly. We were so nervous at the start that it was like everyone was in a cocoon. We have to play with emotion and as a team.” Smallbones paced the Kodiaks with 21. Dezall added 11, Carley 10 and Lisa Ressler 9. Henger paced Red Deer with 27.
In game three, Red Deer pounded the Kodiettes 67-54 as Tracy Henger scored 33, Bonnie Plowman 10, Cindy Friesen 9 and Nadine Traptow 6. Henger told the Red Deer Advocate that “I can’t remember having a game like that before. Things were going in. When you’re feeling good, when you get the ball, you know it’s going in. It was one of those games.” Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup said “Tracy killed us in all three games; we couldn’t handle her.” The Queen’s shot 19-60 (.310) from the floor, 13-19 (.680) from the line and 1-5 from the arc. The Kodiaks shot 24-43 (.550) from the floor, 13-15 (.860) from the line and 2-4 from the arc. Joanne Smallbones led the Kodiettes with 18. Jill Carley added 12, Lisa Ressler 9 and Karina Bohne 9. Tollestrup told The Endeavour that “we needed to have a game with no mistakes and we didn’t get that.”
The silver medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Jill Carley; Joanne Smallbones; Wendy Doram; Jana Dezall; Shauna Kormos; Lisa Ressler; Sue Groenenboom; K. Bohne; D. Eldridge; N. Draper; J. Bolokoski; coach Karie Tollestrup
The gold medalist Red Deer Queens: Nadine Traptow; Tracy Henger; Bonnie Plowman; Michelle Johnstone; Bev Tanner; Cindy Friesen; Laura Elgersma; L. Taylor; K. Goodwin; J. Mitchell; Janice Stevens; D. Fouts; A. Hull; coach Pat Rawluysk