Final regular season standings (9): SAIT (13-3); Lethbridge (11-5); Mount Royal (11-5); Red Deer (9-7); Medicine Hat (8-8); Augustana (6-10); NAIT (6-10); Grant MacEwan (6-10); Grande Prairie (2-14)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Augustana: Jyl Stanford, L Harmatiuk, L Strain, A Bryant, S Logan, M Helstein, P Desormeau, J Shouldice, F Billingsley, M Kanig, C Roberts, S Chinery, M Sahlmark, J Wright
Grande Prairie: L Davies, M Forster, Tanya Johnson, Kathy Wardill, Toni Martins, C Clarke, S Onushko, L Matson, M Bowers, J Winterbotham, T Longson, D Williams, N Morris, coach Kelly Ohlhauser
Grant MacEwan: R Kuzio, J Dick, J Jensen, S Howells, Danah Townsend, M Byrne, K Belcham, M Larsen, K Veerschoor, C Piano, L Maskewich, L Clements, S Jenkins;
Medicine Hat: Heather Amulung, Michelle DeKaye, Kerry Shynkaruk, Jodi Atchison, Terri Stager, Gail McCaw, Brenda Bower, Treena Moran, Laurel Closkey, M Williams, Deanna Schmaltz, Penny Cook, coach Cheryl Kryluk, assistant Debbie Steele
NAIT: Michelle Dorval, Jodie Ross, Robbie Ross, Jodie Deford, Coreen Chizewski, Leanne Salenback, D Bullock, Amanda Brear, Debbie McFarlane, Jodie Lansing, T Carnegie, Sandy Havidge, D Schurman, coach Gregg Meropoulis
In the semis, the SAIT Trojanettes defeated the Red Deer Queens 63-42; 56-57; 62-57 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, SAIT pounded the Queens 63-42. …………………………………………………… In game two, Red Deer evened the series with a 57-56 win as Bobbi Towers scored 18, Simon Pipestem 12, Annette Blew 10 and Candy Taylor 9. Alyce Clark paced the Trojanettes with 20. Sheila Berger added 19. Queens coach Celeste Bazinet told the Red Deer Advocate “we could have laid down but that’s our way.” Blew said “it’s a matter of playing tough defence. … wanting the ball.” Trojans coach Avery Harrison said “the bottom line was we didn’t take care of the ball. … We had way too many turnovers. We also didn’t shoot the ball well in the second half.” Candy Taylor drove the baseline with 23 seconds to go to give the Queens the lead. Janette Junghans miised the front end of one-and-one with six seconds to play. Then Bobbi-Joe Helle hit 1-2 from the line with two seconds to play. …………………………………………………… In game three, SAIT took the series with a 62-57 win as Janette Junghans scored 14, Sheila Bergen 11, Kerri Rath 11 and Alyce Clark 11. Trojans coach Avery Harris told the Red Deer Advocate that leading early “was the key for us, along with not turning the ball over. We were able to get enough points to move clear and our defence was great.” Queens coach Celeste Bazinet said “what did hurt us was not blocking out. They got a number of baskets on second and third shots.” Candy Taylor led the Queens with 16. Annette Blew added 11, Karen Bernard 10 and Simon Pipestem 9. The Queens (coached by Bazinet) also included Bobbie Towers, Kim Goodwin, Karin Bednard, Adrienne Hull, Jennifer Mitchell, Cindy Patterson, J Smith, Joanne Vierra, L Taylor and Y Miller.
In the other semi, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the Mount Royal Cougars 61-51; 62-75; 66-56 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Lethbridge prevailed 61-51 as Jana Dezall kept drilling perimeter jumpers, while Jodi Baker and Wendy Molcak dominated the boards. The Kodiaks opened with a 27-10 run although post Janet Geddes and point guard Lisa Ressler soon found themselves in foul trouble. “Our defence blew them away in the early going, they couldn’t get the ball inside or use their post,” said Kodiak coach Karie Tollestrup. “Molcak and Jodi Baker had big games, and Dezall played her typical game. … Nothing phases her, she just plays at the same level all the time.” Dezall scored 14. Baker added 12, Molcak 10 and Karma Bohne 10. Molcak and Baker combined for 23 boards as the Kodiaks outrebounded the Cougars 45-18. “Molcak hasn’t played much ball the past two years but tonight she played great, I haven’t seen her that fired up all year,” said Tollestrup. The Kodiaks led 35-19 at the half. Anne Trenholm led the Cougars with 21. Joanne Clark added 9. …………………………………………………… In game two, Mount Royal evened the series with a 75-62 win as Joanna Vierra scored 33 and Anne Trenholm 20. Wendy Molcak led Lethbridge with 16. Karma Bohne added 12. The Cougars hit 50% from the floor and 78 from the line. “We stalled a bit offensively,” said Kodiak coach Karie Tollestrup. “Our big guns went cold and never did get going. The only person who shone for us offensively was Wendy Molcak. She kept us in there, especially in the first half.” …………………………………………………… In game three, Lethbridge took the series with a 66-56 victory as rookie guard Janet Geddes scored 25. “Had this loss been against SAIT or anyone else in the league, I wouldn’t have felt so bad,” said Cougars coach Dawn Keith, a former Pronghorn. “I wanted to prove myself in this series, and I think my players felt that, too.” The Kodiaks led 35-29 at the half. The Cougars knotted the score at 41 in the second half but stellar defence by Cory Hauck and Geddes turned the tide. “Our defence was able to capitalize on our offence and we were able to stretch the lead at that point,” said Kodiaks’ coach Karie Tollestrup. “We were able to control the ball and our inside game was effective.” Geddes said patience was key. “We were confident with our game plan and we stuck to it, and eventually things started happening for us.” The Cougars included Anne Trenholm, Joanne Clark, Donna Ingerwerson, Joanna Vieira, K Clark, Suzan Meyers, R Chernos, Kim Hertzberg, T Williams, L Layton, A Gallus and T Hodges.
In the finals, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the SAIT Trojans 49-48; 70-51 (2g-0).
In game one, Jana Dezall scored 12 as Lethbridge prevailed 49-48. Sheila Bergen led SAIT with 14. “We were pretty excited to win in their gym,” said Kodiak coach Karie Tollestrup. “It was our first win in Calgary this year. We lost to SAIT and Mount Royal in the regular season and to Mount Royal in the playoffs.” Jane Dezall led the Kodiaks with 12. Lisa Ressler added 7. “All of the players hit the scoresheet, which was nice to see,” said Tollestrup. “I’m excited we got balanced scoring, but I wish we could have shot a better percentage.” The Kodiaks shot 35% from the floor, while the Trojans hit 36%. Both teams shot 50% from the line. “Offensively, it was a tough night for both teams,” said Tollestrup. “Defensively, both teams played well. We played a zone and that seemed to give them some trouble.” Kodiaks led by three points for about the final 10 minutes of the game before SAIT narrowed the margin to one. SAIT also had the last shot, but missed at the buzzer.
In game two, Lethbridge completed the sweep by dusting SAIT 70-51. “I knew once we them in our gym, we could take them for a ride,” said Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup. Karma Bohne, Jane Dezll and Lisa Ressler hit second half treys as Lethbridge took command. Ressler said “this year meant more because we worked harder. We didn’t have as many stars on the team. We all came together as a team.” After losing twice to the Trojans during the regular season, the Kodiaks finally “broke the spell,” Tollestrup said. “We felt they could be beaten if we ran the ball a lot and switching to a zone defence really helped. We scouted SAIT in the conference semifinals and saw that a zone seemed to work. We hadn’t used a zone defence all year but we practised it and made it work.” Clutch three-point shooting by team captain and point guard Lisa Ressler and timely perimeter baskets by Karma Bohne helped Kodiaks take control. They led 20-9 early and 28-24 at the half. But Ressler, Bohne and Jana Dezall stepped up as they rebuilt a 43-33 lead midway through the second half. Ressler paced the Kodiaks with 17. Dezall added 14, Jodi Baker 11 and Bohne 10. Baker provided needed rebounding and scoring from the bench after starting post Janet Geddes got in foul trouble. Sheila Bergen led the Trojans with 15. Kerri Rath added 14. Conference all-star Janette Junghans scored just 2. “Up until the playoffs it seems like we always struggled against SAIT, they are a big, strong team and it seemed to intimidate us,” said Ressler. “A lot of people were saying this was a rebuilding year for us but we knew it wasn’t, that we had the players to make a title run.” The Kodiaks hit 17-49 from the floor, while SAIT was 17-42. The Kodiaks hit 21-30 from the line, while SAIT was 11-26.
The silver medalist SAIT Trojans: Janette Junghans; Sheila Bergen; Alyce Clark; Kerri Rath; Marci Dumesnil; Karen Lawson; Carolyn DeCock; Sharene Stockburger; Laurie-Ann Dirk; Bobbie Jo Helle; Julie Bradley; Melanie Haines; Amber Thompson; Cindy Caywood; coach Avery Harrison; assistant Brian Haynes; assistant Laura Fehr; manager Bobbie-Jo Helle
The gold medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Janet Geddes; Jana Dezall; Wendy Molcak; Karma Bohne; Cora Lee Hauck; Lisa Ressler; Jaylene Baker; S. Groenboom; L. Sprinkle; C. Helle; W. Draper; K. Nelson; A. Fraser; Joanne Smallbones; coach Karie Tollestrup; assistant Virginia Judd