| POOL A | LETH | MOH | MSV | Record | ||
| Lethbridge | —– | 52-51 | 97-39 | (2-0) | ||
| Mohawk | 51-52 | —– | 66-34 | (1-1) | ||
| Mount St. Vincent | 39-97 | 34-66 | —– | (0-2) | ||
| POOL B | AHUN | CAR | KELS | Record | ||
| Ahuntsic | —– | 64-50 | 64-27 | (2-0) | ||
| Cariboo | 50-64 | —– | 71-47 | (1-1) | ||
| Kelsey | 27-64 | 47-71 | —– | (0-2) | ||
| Bronze | Mohawk 75 Thompson Rivers (then Cariboo) 66 | |
| Final | Lethbridge CC 52 Ahuntsic 48 | |
In pool A round robin play, held at Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue’s John Abbott College: …………………………………………………… The Mohawk Mountaineers’ Tracy Hynd lost her dribble with her team leading 51-50 with six seconds to play. Laurie Hockridge promptly passed it to Jocelyn Baker for the easy winning layup as the Lethbridge Kodiaks prevailed 52-51. “We underestimated them,” Kodiaks coach John Jasiukiewicz told the Endeavour. “They were a lot sounder. … They slowed the game to their advantage. Our girls didn’t give up. … We were scrambling, then Hock (Hockridge) hit Boomer (Kuntz).” The Kodiaks led 30-26 at the half. “I didn’t have a doubt in my mind we would somehow win,” Jasiukiewicz said. Hawaii-University-bound Hockridge led the Kodiaks with 18. Carrie Kuntz added 9 and Tina Bjornsrud 8. Knutsen said “we were over-confident. We had watched them play the day before and felt we could beat them, no problem.” Kuntz said “we weren’t playing as a team, turnovers were high. We have four turnovers in the last three minutes of the game.” …………………………………………………… The Mohawk Mountaineers clubbed the Mount St. Vincent Mystics 66-34. …………………………………………………… The Lethbridge Kodiaks clocked the Mount St. Vincent Mystics 97-39. “The top five teams in our own conference would be better than half the teams here,” said Lethbridge coach John Jasiukiewicz. “This game was exactly what we needed to tune up for tougher games ahead. We got to run our fast break and we did it well. A couple of months back this game would have been considerably closer but the work we have done on moving the ball faster is paying off.” 6-7 post Laurie Hockridge paced Lethbridge with 36. Carmen Knutsen added 18, Tin Bjornsrud 9 and Candice Kleibrink 8. Lethbridge led 40-21 at the half. Jasiukiewicz told the Endeavour that his troops had a poor first half, after which they led 40-21. “We had an aggressive second half. Our Fastbreak overcame their defence.” The team bus driver got lost in Montreal. “The bus driver from the airport didn’t know where our hotel was. By the time we got to the hotel, it was 6:15. The banquet was at 7 p.m., so we arrived a little late.”
In pool B round robin play, the Ahuntsic Indiennes dumped Kelsey Junior College 64-27. Coach Pierre Trudeau told the Montreal Gazette that his troops were “cold as an iceberg, especially in their heads. It was awfully tough preparing for the nationals both mentally and physically. We had several players down with the flu and one, Isabelle Bouchard, didn’t play because of a bad leg.” The Indiennes led 25-17 at the half but the opened the second frame with a 22-4 run to take command. Vicky Tessier led Ahuntsic with 15. Patricia Demers added 12 and Isabelle Desrochers 10. Shelley Thomas led Kelsey with 12. …………………………………………………… The Ahuntsic Indiennes dumped Thompson Rivers (then the Cariboo Goldrush) 64-50 by breaking open a tight match midway through the second half. Ahuntsic had Thompson Rivers in foul trouble early but couldn’t capitalize because of a poor outing from the line. “We weren’t hitting anything,” Indiennes coach Pierre Trudeau told the Montreal Gazette. “And that’s not like us because we’ve been a good foul-shooting team all year. I called a timeout with eight minutes to play and told them: ‘let’s just concentrate on the technical aspects of shooting’. And they responded beautifully.” With Thompson Rivers leading 45-42, Ahuntsic elevated its defence, limiting the Goldrush to just one shot over the next seven minutes, while ripping off a 14-0 run to take command. Isabelle Desrochers led Ahuntsic with 19. Vicky Tessier added 15 and Patricia Demers 12. Thompson Rivers lost its best player, Catherine Stewart, to injury just three minutes into the game. …………………………………………………… The Cariboo Goldrush clipped the SIAST-Kelsey Amaruks 71-47 as Catherine Stewart and Devanee Peterson each scored 16.
In the bronze medal match, the Mohawk Mountaineers defeated Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers) 75-66.
In the final, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks repeated as titlists by dumping the Ahuntsic Indiennes 52-48. The Kodiaks had a distinct height and experience advantage but the Indiennes battled them down to the final 1:34. Isabelle Desrochers had scored five straight point, including a three-pointer to knot the score at 45. But 6-7 Laurie Hockridge, double-teamed for most of the affair, took command. She nailed three straight buckets around a three-pointer by Melanie Gagne to give the Kodiaks a three-point edge with 22 seconds to play. The U of Hawaii-bound Hockridge scored 21 in the second half, finishing with 25, while blocking six shots. “She was like a time bomb waiting to go off,” Ahuntsic coach Pierre Trudeau told the Montreal Gazette. “When we couldn’t afford to sandwich her anymore, she got loose and there’s not much we could do about it. We have our 6-0 and 6-1 girls, but we’re still lacking those five extra inches.” Carrie Kuntz added 13 for the Kodiaks, and Tina Bjornsrud 6. Ahuntsic played a tight defensive first half and led 17-16 heading into the lockers. “It slipped away early in the second half,” said Trudeau. Desrochers led the Indiennes with 18 points. Trudeau told them to hold their heads high. “I told them that when they came out of the dressing room, I wanted to see a smile on their faces for the support they got here. And I wanted them to wear their championship T-Shirts. I’m proud as hell of these girls. And we’ll be back.” Carrie Kuntz added 13 for Lethbridge. Kodiaks coach John Jasiukiewicz said “of the three years I’ve been there (at nationals) this was the toughest for us to win. It was s Kodiak basketball — it was a lot of desire. … We switched to multiple defences with about 12 minutes to go and it confused them a lot and set the stage for the rest of the game.” Hockridge noted “they went back to man-to-man and I took advantage of that and got a lot of points. They were fouling me a lot so I got a lot of points from the line.” Guard Tina Bjornsrud said “it felt really good to win this. We were nervous to a certain extent but there is such talent and a deep bench on this team we knew we could win.” The team had to adjust to using a regulation size ball after capturing the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference with a smaller women’s ball. “We had a week to play with and we adjusted to it really well,” said Bjornsrud. “We were making our shots.” Jasiukiewicz told the Endeavour that “in the first half, we were nervous. We missed some easy shots. … Both teams were nervous. … (But) I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that we were going to win. … We felt the pressure, but our veterans played like veterans. Our rookies felt the pressure though … all adapted well.” Kuntz said “in the second half, we were successful in breaking their press. Defensive-wise it was the best game I ever played.” Carmen Knutsen said “in the first half, our shots, just wouldn’t go in … We tried to shut out the fact that the fans were against us.” Jasiukiewicz said “I feel we played excellent defence. Carmen Knudsen and Shanna Howells played particularly good on defence.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Laurie Hockridge (Lethbridge); Carrie Kuntz (Lethbridge CC); Isabelle Desrochers (Ahuntsic); Vicky Tessier (Ahuntsic); Wendy Bromfield (Mohawk); and Devanee Peterson (Cariboo)
The bronze medalist Mohawk Mountaineers: Wendy Bromfield; Tracy Hynd; Tracey Hudson; Sonia Wellington; Tanya Fournier; Deana Scott; Marilyn Smith; Candice Nicol; Shelley Fice; Jody Thompson; Nancy Pluck; Kelly Bentz; Nancy Pluck; Susan Wheeler; Shelley Fice; Kelly-Lynn Fletcher; Charlene Hull; Lisa Morash; Lenora Pritchard; Chris Watson; Tammy Burrows; Patricia Jackson; coach Earl Begg; assistant Pat Tatham
The silver medalist Ahuntsic Indiennes: Isabelle Desrochers; Vicky Tessier; Patricia Tessier; Isabelle Bouchard; Melanie Gagne; Patricia Demers; Isabelle Bernier; Barbara Mallette-Reque.; Caroline Poirier; Martine Adolphe; Marie-Claude Lachapelle; Caroline Gascon; Nadine Fineus; Marie-Josee Chicoine; coach Pierre Trudeau
The gold medalist Lethbridge CC Kodiaks: Carrie Kuntz; Laurie Hockridge; Jocelyn Baker; Carmen Knutson; Candice Kliebrink; Lori Matthews; Tina Bjornsrud; coach John Jasiukiewicz