Final regular season standings:
N (7): Grant MacEwan (21-3); Augustana (18-6); Red Deer (17-7); Grande Prairie (16-8); NAIT (6-18); The King’s University College (6-18); Concordia (0-24)
S (6): Mount Royal (20-0); SAIT (14-6); Briercrest (11-9); Lethbridge (10-10); Medicine Hat (5-15); Prairie Bible (0-20)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Concordia: Shawna Siemens, Samara Smith, Holley Boden, Shelley Bishop, Nicole Walton, Natilie Anderson, Meredith Brackstone, Paige Nelson, Summer Yeo, Michelle Fausak, Jennifer Tymko, coach Gary Zuko
King’s University College: Kellie Boysen, Erin Wisselink, Heidi Ciezki, Angela Regier, Andrea Rozema, Patty Luymes, Kelly Frost, Cheryl Lafayette, Rebecca Klingenberg, Lena Zuehlke, Kathleen Duncan, Janelle Schenk, Jacqueline Agma, Rachelle Kreese
Medicine Hat: Johanna Stauffer, Deana Seida, Andrea Fowlie, Erin Lawson, Katie Jordison, Caren Niebergall, Allison Gottselig, Leah Jo Chabot, Lindsey Engel, Kristie Tokunaga, Tanissa Martindale, Amber Homeny
NAIT: Jennifer Fead, Brianne Webb, Brandy Ryder, Amanda Paradis, Alexis Goodstricker, Barb Tenney, Marcy Theroux, Marla Gladstone, Jane Odegard, Michelle Reeder, Nicole Bourget, Sarah McLean, Jileen Hurtabise, Katie Kildaw
Prairie Bible: Tamara Gehring, Deborah Krause, Mary Fehr, Stacey Steeves, Alexis Dewitt, Lana Keleba, Sarah Fehr, Kristin Uzelman, Erin Barnett, Kristy Peters, Jenee Smith
In the quarterfinals, the Grant MacEwan Griffins defeated the Lethbridge Kodiettes 91-69; 78-69 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, the Griffins prevailed 91-69. Aimee Sandham paced the Kodiettes with 17, including five treys. …………………………………………………… In game two, the Griffins completed the sweep with a 78-69 win. Melanie Marek paced the Kodiaks with 24. Kodiettes guard Aimee Sandham told the Endeavour that “they were a tough team but we didn’t play that great either.” The Kodiettes (coached by Brad Karren) also included Darci Hamilton, Lara Scott, Lori French, Evangeline Leclair, Jill Cleland, Mandy Stevens, Jill Fletcher, Jill Francis, Wendy Day Chief, Emily Mitchell and Shannon McKay.
The Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Grande Prairie Wolves 80-46; 90-58 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, reserve Meagen Atkinson scored 10 points and grabbed 10 boards in an aggressive performance off the bench. She twice pilfered the ball to break open a 13-11 affair as the Cougars roared to a 36-15 lead. “I was really nervous,” said Atkinson. “I tried to focus everything positively, use those butterflies in a good way. I tried to be as aggressive as I could.” Coach Donovan Martin said Atkinson “really stepped her game up. That’s the best game she’s had this year. I thought she was really excellent.” Annie Walker led the Cougars with 19. Anita de Menezes added 17. Krista Mitchell paced the Wolves with 15. Grande Prairie shot just .320 from the floor and were 0-8 from the arc. Martin said the early turnovers bothered the Cougars. “The good part was, we were playing hard on defence, until we got things under control.” …………………………………………………… In game two, Mount Royal coasted, although the Wolves briefly trimmed the margin to 11 with three minutes remaining in the first half. “We weren’t playing defence at all in the first half,” said Cougars guard Annie Walker. “We were stagnant. The only reason we were winning is because we were shooting and they weren’t.” Cougars coach Donovan Martin surprised that his troops were nervous, having not played Grande Prairie during the regular season. The Wolves tired in the second half as the Cougars built a 72-43 lead. “We can take any team if everyone’s ready,” said Walker, who scored 22. Krista Mitchell led the Wolves with 21. Erin King added 12. Wolves coach Kelly Ohlhauser told the Grande Prairie Herald that “we just couldn’t get enough stops. There were times when we were defending very well, their player would get off a tough shot and make it. And they did it consistently enough to prove it wasn’t luck. They just proved to be a significantly better team than we are.” The Wolves (coached by Ohlhauser) also included Steph Ruch, Natalie Sanderson, Kristy Stucklshwaiger, Lisa Clark, Jen Eagleson, Crystal Descosta, Sarah Cassidy, Jessica Lyons and Brie Beauchamp.
The Augustana Vikings defeated the Briercrest Bible Clippers 54-53; 55-45; 73-58 (2g-1). The Clippers (coached by James Clark, in his fourth year at the helm) included Kirsten Swann, Sara Thiessen, Kata Lalande, Carrie Schauefele, Mandy Watters, Amie Kuhn, Shelly Dykshoorn, Suzanne Korthuis, Amanda Nystrom, Wendy Goertzen, Michelle Hall and Julie Bergstrom.
In the last quarterfinal series, the SAIT Trojans defeated the Red Deer Queens 75-67; 62-77; 76-46 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, SAIT erased a 14-point deficit with 10 minutes to play to pull out the win. Guard Lori Jackson scored 27, grabbed 9 boards and dished 12 assists. Lisa Jensen scored 22 and grabbed 10 boards. Cori Rawlusyk led Red Deer with 19. Jodi Potts added 11 and Leah Hunt 11. Queen’s coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that “we were up by 10 halfway through the second half. Then we got tentative. We hit a cold streak and we couldn’t get the ball inside. Down the stretch, we missed some easy baskets. We had our chances to win it. When we were up by 10, we had to play with confidence. We got tentative and quit moving the ball.” …………………………………………………… In game two, Red Deer evened the series with a 77-62 win as Tracy Gyurkovits scored 15, while nabbing 9 boards, Jodi Potts 15, Leah Hunt 12, along with 10 boards, Jill Potts 11 and Cori Rawlusyk 9. The Queens led 38-37 at the half. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that “we knew going into the game we needed to dominate the boards. We put up a note prior to the game which said ‘offence sells tickets, defence wins games and rebounding wins championships’.” Assistant Brent Anderson said “we went away from zone to man defence and it changed the momentum completely.” Rawlusyk said “our zone wasn’t aggressive. They were getting a lot of good shots.” Trojans coach Avery Harrison said “Red Deer did a good job of haning in there and we had a drought and let them back. If we could have kept up the intensity we could have had them down by 20.” Gyurkovits said “we could tell they were getting tired in the second half and with Pat substituting as often as she does, we’re certainly fresher. It was a team effort but that’s the way we have to play.” …………………………………………………… In game three, Red Deer took an early 18-17 lead despite 11 points from Lisa Jensen. But the Jensen hit a free throw to give SAIT a 19-18 lead and then Melissa McIlhone got hot as SAIT built a 35-30 lead at the half, with Jensen having scored 18 and McIlhone 8. The Trojans kept the Queen’s to only four points in the first 13 minutes of the second half and romped. Jensen finished with 28. McIlhone and Lori Jackson each added 15. “Team defence is what won the game,” said McIlhone. “They’re a good team. They worked hard but we were pumped.” Jody Potts paced the Queens with 14. Tracy Gyurkovits added 13. The Queens also included Cori Rawlusyk, Jill Potts, Leah Hunt, Ave Dersch, Lara Spragud, Jessica Clevette, Ela Barylski, Andi Crowe-Swords, Lisa Cruikshank, Shannon MacGregor, Heather MacGregor and Natasha Cameron. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that “we weren’t mentally there the whole night. We only scored 16 points in the second half. We only shot 26% from the floor and they shot 46%. We had the same number of shots. … The second half was a nightmare. SAIT couldn’t miss and we couldn’t hit anything. We started to panic. With 17 minutes left, we were panicking and throwing up everything.”
In the Final Four semis, the Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Augustana Vikings 56-48.
In the other semi, the SAIT Trojans nipped the Grant MacEwan Griffins 79-76.
In the bronze medal match, the Grant MacEwan Griffins edged the Augustana Vikings 67-63. The Vikings included Megan Fraser, Megan Person, Shelley Pozerniuk, Leah Bowal, Megan Ellsworth, Heather Harburn, Billie Sue Blackmer, Joy de la Paz, Jamie South, Robyn Danyluk, Trudi Lorenz, Jeanna Woodward and Kelly Smith.
In the final, Mount Royal defeated SAIT 75-69. “We dreaded the thought of going undefeated (24-0) and losing the last game,” said Mount Royal coach Donovan Martin. “It was a full team effort. It was fantastic. This puts the icing on the cake.” The Cougars had defeated the Trojans four times in regular season play. They led by eight at the half but SAIT rallied to a one-point lead with 12 minutes to play. “We came right back and scored and never trailed again,” Martin said. Annie Walker led Mount Royal with 20. Meagen Atkinson added 15.
After the season, 34-year-old coach Gerry Couzens retired at Grant MacEwan, having won seven of the previous eight northern division regular season titles.
The bronze medalist Grant MacEwan Griffins: Tamara Edwards; Michelle MacKinnon; Fiona Halbert; Lynsay Hurd; Sue Tames; Jenn Allen; Naomi Man In’tVeld; Shianna Birrell; Stephanie Stolk; Jenn Anderson; Christy Debienne; Wendy-Anne Belle; Jen Campbell; Lindsay Butler; J. Auch; coach Gerry Couzens
The silver medalist SAIT Trojans: Lisa Jensen; Lori Jackson; Melissa McIlhone; Melissa Smith; Cheryl Corrigan; Chantelle Kennedy; Sabrina Shaw; Audrey Curran; Carmen Rutherford; Brandi Nash; Holly Penner; Stacey Kaluta; Sabrina Shaw; Stacey Kaluta; coach Avery Harrison; associate Rae Fehr; assistant Erhayat Ozcan; therapist Jackie Keyowski
The gold medalist Mount Royal Cougars: Anita De Menezes; Paula Walker, Leah Nikiforuk, Jeni Halowski, Annie Walker; Katie Kinsman; Chrissy Job; Heidi Somerville; Meagen Atkinson; Robyn Middlestead; Leslie-Anne Horbry; Adele Stimson; Jen Jareuther; coach Donovan Martin