Final regular season standings (8): St. Thomas (21-0); Mount St. Vincent (18-3); Mt. Allison (13-8); Holland (10-11); New Brunswick-Saint John (9-11); University of King’s College (8-13); Crandall (3-16); Nova Scotia Agricultural (0-20)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Crandall Chargers: Elizabeth Boutilier, Meg Casey, Lauren Cronk, Meghan Dickie, Jacqueline Grondin, Jillian Guptill, Meghan Keoghan, Tera Levasseur, Kaitlin McGraw, Ashley Robichaud, Brittany Savoy, Sarah Scoville and Kayla Wareham.
Nova Scotia Agricultural College Rams: Nicole Cox, Felicia Gero, Hillary Hooper, Shelby Jamieson, Jessica Leck, Jennifer Lutes, Deanne O’Reilly and Alana Ransome.
In the quarterfinals, the Mount Allison Mounties dumped the University of King’s College Blue Devils 62-45. The Blue Devils led 17-16 after one quarter. The Mounties led 31-23 at the half and 45-32 after three quarters. Sara McKellar paced the Mounties with 15. Marlon Smith added 11, Mackenzie Gray 10, Megan Plummer 8, Kayla Robichaud 7, Chelsea Putnam 6, Jennifer Robinson 3, along with 11 boards, and MacKenzie McHatten 2, while Lauren Antworth, Danielle Broome and Tessa Morris were scoreless. The Mounties hit 26-85 (.306) from the floor, 4-22 (.182) from the arc and 6-7 (.857) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 24 turnovers, 4 blocks, 19 seals and 15 fouls. Bhreagh Moore led the Blue Devils (coached by Jean Bennett, assisted by George Hughes and Leslie Duncan) with 22 points and 14 boards. Kayla MacRae added 12, Brittany Francis 8, along with 13 boards, Meredith Patterson 2 and Caroline McKenna 1, while Beatrice Cleveland-Thomson, Sarah Burns, Sarah Kraus, Carla Norrad, Courtney Slipp, Haley MacLean, Allie Darwin, Leslie Doane, Katie Locke and Fallon Longmire were scoreless. Cleveland-Thomson nabbed 10 boards. The Blue Devils hit 17-61 (.279) from the floor, 2-11 (.182) from the arc and 9-14 (.643) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 6 assists, 33 turnovers, 2 blocks, 8 steals and 8 fouls.
In the other quarterfinal, the Holland Hurricanes crushed the University of New Brunswick at St. John Seawolves 75-56 after leading 20-13, 39-26 and 53-42 at the quarters. Rickeia Richardson paced the Hurricanes with 20 points and 12 boards. Lindy MacDonald added 13 points and 10 boards. Emily Thomas scored 11, Brittany Leblanc 10, Jennifer Hinds 9, along with 16 boards, Bridget Foley 6, Lindsay Shupe 4 and Rachel Scoville 2. The Hurricanes hit 27-80 (.338) from the floor, 1-20 (.050) from the arc and 20-29 (.690) from the line, while garnering 60 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 17 turnovers, 3 blocks, 12 steals and 14 fouls. Emily Dowling paced the Seawolves (coached by Kevin Munroe, assisted by Robert Munroe) with 10. Christie Smith added 9, along with 13 boards, Leanne Davis 8, Sarah Trott 8, Rachel Jefferson 6, Brittany Mallory 5, Laura Simonds 5, Heather Cusack 4 and Hannah McLeod 1, while Emily Smith was scoreless. The Seawolves hit 22-81 (.272) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 9-13 (.692) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 23 turnovers, 6 blocks, 7 steals and 20 fouls.
In the semis, the Mount St. Vincent Mystics dumped the Mount Allison Mounties 65-52 after leading 18-13, 3-20 and 49-36 at the quarters. Laura Himmelman paced the Mystics with 18 points and 10 boards. Chelsea MacKay scored 16, Ann Conrod 7, Maria Konchalski 7, Taylor MacDonald 7, Emma Reardon 5, Taryn Oakley 4 and Kara Hayes 1, while Christina Brien and Che’Kara Beals were scoreless. The Mystics hit 25-75 (.333) from the floor, 4-27 (.148) from the arc and 11-22 from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 23 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 3 blocks, 12 steals and 21 fouls. Marlon Smith paced the Mounties (coached by Al Hart, assisted by Doug Hart and Jay Mingrone) with 15. Sara McKellar added 10, Chelsea Putnam 7, Mackenzie Gray 7, Megan Plummer 5, Jennifer Robinson 5, along with 10 boards, MacKenzie McHatten 2 and Kayla Robichaud 1, while Lauren Antworth, Ainslie Oland, Morgan Parsons, Allison Turcotte, Danielle Broome and Tessa Morris were scoreless. The Mounties hit 15-61 (.246) from the floor, 5-23 (.217) from the arc and 17-27 (.630) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 31 turnovers, 3 blocks, 16 steals and 23 fouls.
In the other semi, the St. Thomas Tommies thrashed the Holland Hurricanes 100-40 after leading 20-10, 49-25 and 79-34 at the quarters. Kelly Vass paced the Tommies with 27 points and 10 boards. Brittany Gillis added 14, Renee Leblanc 12, Hillary Goodine 10, Ashley Bawn 7, Kelly Debow 7, Jillian Lamoreau 7, Laura Anderson 5, Kathleen McCann 4, Sinclair Green 3, Sarah Beaney 2 and Hannah MacDonald 2. The Tommies hit 33-72 (.458) from the floor, 11-25 (.440) from the arc and 23-38 (.605) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 24 assists, 12 turnovers, 2 blocks, 16 steals and 17 fouls. Rickeia Richardson paced the Hurricanes with 11. Lindy MacDonald added 8, Brittany LeBlanc 6, Emily Thomas 4, Bridget Foley 4, Lindsay Shupe 3, Felicia Frost 2 and Rachel Scoville 2, while Jennifer Hinds, Katelin Burridge, Shaelyn Graham and Katelyn Peters were scoreless. The Hurricanes hit 11-64 (.172) from the floor, 2-26 (.077) from the arc and 16-19 (.842) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 4 assists, 32 turnovers, 4 blocks, 5 steals and 27 fouls. The Hurricanes (coached by Mike Connolly, assisted by Mary-Catherine Connolly) also included Keiomi Bridges, Bridge Foley and Katey Murdock.
In the final, the St. Thomas Tommies clipped the Mount St. Vincent Mystics 63-49. It was somewhat of an uncharacteristic game for the Tommies as they trailed both by the widest margin and for the longest stretch in any game they’ve played this season. “They’re a well-coached basketball team,” said Tommies coach Fred Connors. “It’s been a battle every time we’ve played them. We didn’t expect any less than that this time out.” The Mystics took over the lead in the opening minutes of the game as a part of an 11-4 run to go up eight points heading into the second quarter. The Tommies chased away nerves in the second to climb back in it as they applied more pressure on the defensive end. But the Mystics kept up the intensity they brought from the opening tip off. The teams headed to the locker room even at 24. The Mystics didn’t back off in the third quarter as STU tried to adjust out of halftime and gain control of the game. STU would draw even twice in the quarter but were unable to get a handle on the lead as MSVU seemed to grab the key points. They carried a slim 43-40 lead into the fourth. Kat McCann drained her only five points of the game to open the fourth quarter and get take back the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter. Connors then got a tip from senior Kelly Debow who advised him to slot rookie of the year Brittany Gilliss (normally a guard) in at post for the remainder of the game. They fed it into her and she made the decision look like a smart one as she recorded 15 points and was named player of the game. STU went took off on a 13-0 run on the heels of that to put the game just out of reach. They wore down the Mystics in the middle portion of the final quarter with smothering team defence and using the depth of their bench. The Mystics began to show their frustration as the game started to really slip out of reach. ACAA player of the year, Chelsea MacKay fouled out with three minutes to go and with her seemed to go the fight in her team’s play. With just over a minute left, as his team returned to the court after their last timeout, Connors looked up at the score clock and breathed a mini sigh of relief with the game in hand. “It’s quite overwhelming to win again,” said Connors. “You never think you’re going to be undefeated and to go back-to-back is pretty mind-blowing. We’ll enjoy this and then get ready for nationals. But if we come out and play like we did in the fourth quarter, we’re going to make some noise there. … They did a great job of taking away our ball movement and gave us everything we could handle today. In the end it was really our defense that got the job done for us. That’s what it has been all year and we really needed it today.” Kathleen McCann said “that to be honest there was a moment during the game that I thought we might lose, but then I told myself that I needed to stay positive in order to be able to encourage the rest of the team to do the same.” Brittany Gilliss paced the Tommies with 15 on 5-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 5-5 from the line and 3 boards. Kelly Vass added 12 on 3-10 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 5 steals. Hillary Goodine scored 8 on 4-9 from the floor and 8 boards. Ashley Bawn notched 7 on 7-8 from the line, 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Kelly Debow scored 6 on 2-4 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc and 3 boards. Renee Leblanc added 6 on 2-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 steals. Kathleen McCann added 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 5 boards. Jillian Lamoreau scored 4, along with 4 boards, while Laura Anderson was scoreless. The Tommies hit 19-49 (.388) from the floor, 7-17 (.412) from the arc and 18-21 (.857) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 25 turnovers, 2 blocks, 15 steals and 10 fouls. Ann Conrod paced the Mystics with 14 on 6-11 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 10 boards and 5 steals. Chelsea MacKay added 11 on 5-13 from the floor, 1-7 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 2 assists. Laura Himmelman scored 7 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 7 boards, 4 assists and 6 steals. Christina Brien notched 6 on 3-9 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 4 boards. Maria Konchalski scored 4 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 0-1 from the line and 2 boards. Kara Hayes scored 4 on 2-4 from the floor and 4 boards. Emma Reardon notched 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 3 boards, while Leslie Connors, Taylor Macdonald, Taryn Oakley, Astin Williams, Samantha Strickland, Che’Kara Beals and Jessica May were scoreless. The Mystics hit 22-63 (.349) from the floor, 5-23 (.217) from the arc and 0-3 from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 25 turnovers, 2 blocks, 18 steals and 19 fouls.
The silver medalist Mount St. Vincent Mystics: Ann Conrod; Chelsea MacKay; Laura Himmelman; Christina Brien; Maria Konchalski; Kara Hayes; Emma Reardon; Leslie Connors; Taylor Macdonald; Taryn Oakley; Astin Williams; Samantha Strickland; Che’Kara Beals; Jessica May; coach Mark Forward; assistant Elaine Horne; assistant Sarah Rudderham
The champion St. Thomas Tommies: Kelly Debow; Hilary Goodine; Jillian Lamoreau; Ashley Bawn; Kelly Vass; Kathleen McCann; Brittany Gilliss; Laura Anderson; Hannah MacDonald; Renee Leblanc; Sinclair Green; Sarah Beaney; coach Fred Connors; assistant Peter Douthwright; trainer Charlene Woolaver; athletic director Michael Eagles