Final regular season standings:
N (6): Grant MacEwan (20-0); Grande Prairie (16-4); Augustana (10-10); Red Deer (10-10); NAIT (4-16); The King’s University College (0-20)
S (6): Mount Royal (19-1); SAIT (16-4); Briercrest (10-10); Lethbridge (9-11); Medicine Hat (6-14); Prairie Bible (0-20)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
King’s University College: Kristin Kuipers, Heidi Ciecke, Eryn Sample, Melanie Langelaar, Kelly Ingwersen, Patty Luymes, Andrea Rozema, Kjerstin Korzan, Kristin Mulder, Tasha Kott, Shawna Eyk, Danielle Barthel
Medicine Hat: Taryn Sehn, Andrea Fowlie, Erin Lawson, Terra Drescher, Stacy Ewankiw, Celeste Champigny, Michelle Craats, Chelsey Duvall, Hilary Peace, Kelly McLellan
NAIT: Karine Gagne, Melanie Zapesocki, Stephanie Behm, Claire O’Sullivan, Meagan Dickens, Teresa Bradley, Michelle Reeder, Tamara Pilipchuk, Marcia Moulton, Robyn Burrill, Johanna Stauffer, Shannon Morris, Laurel Buchan, Stacie Reid
Prairie Bible: Carrie Stenstrom, Becky Reed, Heather Siemens, Izumi Kaneko, Reta Wright, Jennifer Karras, Lisa Planiden, Amy Simonson, Jill Paquette, Ranae Mundt, Corrine Martens, Tanya Priebe, Jenny Reed, Krista Amendt
In the quarterfinals, the Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Red Deer Queens 70-48; 59-41 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Mount Royal pounded Red Deer 70-48. Angela Leischner paced the Queens with 10. Gilles Bell added 8, Courtney Fraser 6 and Lynsay Hurd 6. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that “we played so well on the defensive end then didn’t run our offence at all. We didn’t get the ball to people who have to score for us, like Noree (Claerhout) and Gilles (Bell) didn’t take near enough shots.” Rawlusyk added that when Lynsay Hurd fouled out with nine minutes to play “that really hurt. We seemed to collapse then.” …………………………………………………… In game two, Mount Royal pounded Red Deer 59-41 as Sarah Nibler scored 13 and Candace McMaster 13. The Cougars led 27-23 at the half. Cougars coach Avery Harrison told the Red Deer Advocate that “you have to give Red Deer creit, they played us extremely tough and forced us to do some things we don’t like doing. But we played strong defensively, which was a key.” Noree Clearhout led the Queens with 11. Courtney Fraser added 10. The Queens also included Meagan Nolin, Courtney Fraser, Gilles Bell, Mandy Nevakshanoff, Rayna Robinson, Angela Leischner, Lindsay Payne, Lynsay Hurd, Jessica Clevette, J’anna Aitchison and Angela Lajeunese. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk said that “they finally worked hard for 40 minutes. They kept their heads in it and did a very good job defensively against a very good team. What we needed was a scorer. When we lost Angela (Lajeunesse) at Christmas, we lost 20 points a game and could never replace that.”
The Grande Prairie Wolves defeated the Briercrest Bible Institute Clippers 73-56; 68-56 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game two, the Wolves prevailed 68-56 as Miranda Rose scored 15, Angie Lockhart 13, Krista Marsh 13 and Kelly Yorston 10. The Clippers included Catherine Reed, Jenny O’Dwyer, Heather McFee, Nicole Friessen, Amie Goertzen, Rachael Reimer, Anna Matuszewski, Candice Goertzen, Sara Thiessen, Naomi Baker, Renae Reaume, Jackie Ludke and Sara Jeanson.
The SAIT Trojans defeated the Augustana Vikings 66-54; 82-54 (2g-0). The Vikings included Leah Bowel, Tiffany Speers, Heather Harburn, Tanya Beasley, Korrie Smith, Megan Person, Gayetan Klinger, Jamie South, Megan Fraser, Amanda Forstbauer, Billie Sue Blackmer and Kathie Lee Hurtubise.
In the last quarterfinal series, the Grant MacEwan Griffins defeated the Lethbridge Kodiettes 101-66; 109-46 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, the Griffins prevailed 101-66 after leading 51-25 at the half. Lara Hyggen led the Kodiettes with 14. Melanie Marek added 13 and Nicky Baker 12. …………………………………………………… In game two, the Griffins completed the sweep with an easy 109-46 win. The Kodiettes (coached by Dawn Keith) included Stacey Duncombe, Wendy McMurray, Lara Hyggen, Cari Bremner, Shelo Wagner, Julian McDougall, Nicole Baker, Jamie Ramsdell, Melanie Marek, Carol Melting Tallow, Jodi Jensen, Cori Watson, Heather Graham and Shelly McGregor.
In the Final Four semis, the Grant MacEwan Griffins defeated the SAIT Trojans 87-74.
In the other semi, the Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Grande Prairie Wolves 77-59. The Cougars led 38-37 at the half and by as many as 18 in the second half. Krista Marsh paced the Wolves with 15. Kelly Yorston added 13, along with 11 boards. Wolves coach Kelly Ohlhauser told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune that “it wasn’t an 18-point game. I thought defensively we played well enough to win.” The Wolves commited 39 turnovers.
In the bronze medal match, the Grande Prairie Wolves crushed the SAIT Trojans 88-66 as Angela Lockhart scored 17, while dishing 10 assists. Krista Marsh added 18 and Miranda Rose 18. Wolves coach Kelly Ohlhauser told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune that “we’re never won silver. But then again, maybe it’d be a lousy feeling to go out with a loss. With Bronze, at least, you finish on a positive. Trojans assistant Rae Fahr told Canadian Press “we played our hearts out and played as hard as we could. It just wasn’t in the cards for us.” The Trojans (coached by Laura Fehr, assisted by Rae Fehr and Cynthia Johnson, and trained by Courtenay Brown) included Lori Jackson, Sabrina Shaw, Dawn Pierce, Lisa Erickson, Shannon Dinzey, Michelle Coninx, Sarah Bohne, Chris Goett, Lisa Jensen, Nicole Leclair, Marietta Gaines, Denise Marshall, Janenne Bancroft, Celine D’Amours and Kendra Senger.
In the final, the Mount Royal Cougars derailed the undefeated Grant MacEwan Griffins 68-63. MacEwan led 36-35 at the half but the Cougars ripped off a 19-7 run to take command. Candace McMaster led the Cougars with 23. “We came into this game mentally ready because we knew the crowd would be against us,” said McMaster. “We were the underdogs and we had to play the game of our lives. And we did.” The Griffins rallied down the stretch on a pair of critical field goals by reserve Tamara Edwards and a trey by Brandie Speers that cut the margin to 63-61 with four minutes to play but got no closer. Anita de Meriezes notched a critical putback board in the final minute to ice it. Griffins coach Gerry Couzens said his troops had difficulty against Mount Royal’s pressure defence. “They’re really an aggressive team and they put a lot of pressure on us which we haven’t seen much of this year. It rattled us a little.” Michelle MacKinnon added 16 for the Cougars while Jen Halowski notched 12.
The bronze medalist Grande Prairie Wolves: Kim Stuckleschwaiger; Dale Fraer; Angela Lockhart; Jody McElroy; Kristi Stucklschwaiger; Kelly Yorston; Krista Marsh; Angela Lenny; Shannon Macgregor; Leann Van Haastert; Kathleen Gook; Miranda Rose; coach Kelly Ohlhauser
The silver medalist Grant MacEwan Griffins: Lisa Kolkman; Shannon Walton; Sherri-Dawn Acker; Jen Campbell; Danielle Peers; Tammy Kenzie; Brandie Speers; Michelle MacKinnon; Tamara Edwards; Sue Tames; Jody Olson; Kirsten Hutchison; Torah Kachur
The gold medalist Mount Royal Cougars: Janis Bridger; Sarah Nibler; Emily Williams; Leah Nikiforuk; Sherri Webster; Chelsea McCorquindale; Jen Halowski; Candace McMaster; Callie Lomenda; Paula Walker; Anita De Menzes; Ariana Gedlaman; Jill Sutherin; Ariana Kane; Allaina Gibb; Keisha McMaster; coach Avery Harrison; assistant Brian Haynes