(1) S.A.I.T. 71            
(8) Mount Allison 42 S.A.I.T.  63        
(4) Ste-Foy 45 Malaspina  49 S.A.I.T. 90    
(5) Malaspina 51            
              —–SOUTHERN ALBERTA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY  
(2) Langara 72            
(7) Medicine Hat 79 Medicine Hat  55 Montmorency 75    
(3) Humber 56 Montmorency 108        
(6) Montmorency 67            

        In the quarterfinals, held in Medicine Hat, the top-seeded SAIT Trojans smacked the 8th-seeded Mount Allison Mounties 71-42. “We started off the game by scoring the first seven points and just cruised from there,” coach Avery Harrison told the Calgary Herald. Lori Jackson led the Trojans with 19. Lisa Ozcan and Rhona McKenzie each added 15. Harrison rested his starters the final 15 minutes after the Trojans moved ahead 42-16. “It was nice to get everybody in the game and 9 of 11 players scored for us.” The Trojans held two-time all-Canadian Suzanne Peachy to 11 points. “I think we can play better,” said Harrison. “It was a case of getting out the nerves.”

        The 5th-seeded Malaspina Mariners defeated the 4th-seeded Ste-Foy Dynamiques 51-45 as Amanda Bjork scored 10. Gina Sage, who was chosen player of the game for the Mariners, added 10. Chantal Forest, who earned the laurels for the Dynamiques, scored 13. Marie Pedneau added 12. Mariners coach Tom Elwood told Canadian Press that “we were very good defensively. In the first half, we were outstanding. In the second half, when things got tight, we really executed.” The Mariners went to a zone with five minutes to play and shut down the Dynamiques. Elwood said “we just came down and hit our foul shots. In the last two minutes, we were 5-7 from the line.” After the game, the Dynamiques protested that an official’s error on the possession arrow with 30 seconds to play, and the margin at two, altered the outcome of the game. Rather than having possession with a chance to tie the game, the Dynamiques found themselves on defence. “I wasn’t very pleased with the technical error,” Dynamiques coach Sonia Ritchie told the Medicine Hat News. “We lost the game, not because of that call. But it would have helped us. We would have had the ball down by two points.” A committee ruled after the game that nothing could be done.  

        The 7th-seeded Medicine Hat Kwahommies stunned the 2nd-seeded Langara Falcons 79-72. “Wow,” Rattlers coach Harald Albrecht told the Medicine Hat News. “I’m on cloud nine. What else can you say? I knew it was going to be a dose game. The girls came out to play hard. We wanted to prove something. This was a total team effort. Every player put in her best.” Stacey Ewankiw, who was chosen player of the game for the Rattlers, said “we came out and played phenomenal. Every girl played their guts out. We had something to prove.” The Rattlers broke the Falcons press with good ball movement. Johanna Stauff paced the Rattlers with 30. Falcons coach Mike Clarke said “I think we had the opportunity to end the game early and blow them out. We didn’t take advantage of it. They kept fighting and we began to lose our confidence. Not to take anything away from Medicine Hat. But we didn’t show ourselves and play the way we’ve been playing — particularly as of late.”

        In the last quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded Montmorency Nomades blitzed the 3rd-seeded Humber Hawks 67-56. Caroline Levasseur was chosen player of the game for the Nomades, while Tanya Sadler earned the laurels for the Hawks. Caroline Levasseur led the Nomades with 21. Pascale Morin added 13. Tanya Sadler led the Hawks with 16, along with 10 boards. Tina Botterill added 14, Aman Hasebenebi 14 and Audrey Kaersenhout 8, along with 4 steals.  The Nomades broke to a 27-14 lead but the Hawks pressure defence rallied them within 30-27 at the half. Ballhandling miscues undid the Hawks in the second half. Point guard Missy McCutcheon told The Coven that “we were so flat. We were so nervous. We knew they were a good team. We didn’t play with confidence. Overall, it felt like we weren’t playing with heart.” Post Filomena April was chosen player of the game for the Hawks.

        In the bronze quarterfinals, Ste-Foy dumped Mount Allison 57-40 as Marie-Helene Pedneau scored 12 and Claudia Robitaille 7. Suzzane Peachey led the Mounties with 13. Marie Pedneau was chosen player of the game for the Dynamiques, while Jessica Knowles earned the laurels for the Mounties. The Mounties (coached by Al Hart) also included Krista Harrison, Jennifer Klein, Sylvie Stringer;

        In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Humber Hawks thrashed the Langara Falcons 75-53. The Hawks led 27-26 at the half. Tina Botterill was chosen player of the game for the Hawks, while Andrea Bustille earned the laurels for the Falcons. Botterill paced the Hawks with 14, along with 5 steals and 4 assists. Nicole Clark added 14, along with 8 boards and 5 steals, Tanya Saddler 13, and Audrey Kaersenhout 8, along with 3 steals and 1 charge. Assistant coach Denise Perrier told The Coven that “I thought our first half wasn’t great. In the second half, we came defensively,” and forward Audrey Kaersenhout, despite playing with a sprained ankle set the tone. Aman Hasenbenebi said “we were all bruised up, but she (Kaersenhout) was badly, badly hurt. She just came out and sucked it up. She has so much heart for the game. I’ve never met anyone like that. She’s an inspiration to me. Whatever it takes for a team to win. It takes people like her.” Najadline Cliff led the Falcons with 18. Kim Bosnick added 10. The Falcons (coached by Mike Clarke) also included Shira Hassanali, Carlee St. Denis, Andrea Bustillo, Leslie Manzano, Pauline Manzano, Angela Miller, Charity Zapanta, Tammy Neufeld.

        In the semis, the top-seeded SAIT Trojans defeated the 5th-seeded Malaspina Mariners 63-49. But coach Avery Harrison said the win was bittersweet as the Mariners were coached by Tom Elwood, who was interim coach of SAIT men’s team between 1990-92, when Harrison had assumed the Trojan women’s reins and the pair shared an office. “We became really, really good friends. And in game like this, you know you’re either going to feel lousy because you lost, or a little of the joy will be missing if you win. It takes a little of the fun out of the win when you beat one of your buddies.” The Trojans held star Malaspina point guard Gina Sage to 10 points. Lori Jackson led SAIT with 15. Rhona McKenzie added 15, Lisa Jensen 14 and Liza Ozcan 8. After Ozcan fouled out with 11 minutes to play, 6-3 post Chantelle Kennedy stepped in and replaced her ably. SAIT hit 5-10 from the arc, while Malaspina was 0-9. Anna Kranenberg led the Mariners with 14. Amanda Bjork added 12. “She played a terrific second half,” said Harrison. Mariners coach Tom Elwood told the Nanaimo Daily News that “we missed some shots early and they made every shot. There was one possession in the second half when we cut the lead to 10 points and we got them down to where they have one second on the clock to shoot and they score. It was one of those days. They hit their shots. We had shots and didn’t knock them down.”

        In the other semi, the Montmorency Nomades pounded the Medicine Hat Kwahommies 108-55. Kwahommies coach Harald Albrecht told the Medicine Hat News it was “hard to come back after the emotional high we were on” from the quarterfinal win. “They’re a phenomenal team.” Nomads coach Francois Forget said “we have a very nice team. We play together as a team and nobody plays for themselves.” Caroline Levasseur, Pascale Morin and Josee Lalonde dominated. “We were a bit nervous at the start” said Nomads assistant coach Jean-Phillippe Chevarie. “We’re not used to playing in front of a big crowd like this.” Lalonde scored 22. Andrea Fowlie paced the Rattlers with 14.

        In the bronze semis, the Humber Hawks edged the Malaspina Mariners 55-50. The Hawks pressure defence appeared to rattle the Mariners and Malaspina all-Canadian guard quickly found herself in foul trouble. Humber ripped off an 8-0 run to take a 20-11 lead but the Mariners rallied to within 24-19 at the half. Mariner coach Tom Elwood was tossed early in the second half and the Hawks promptly build a 17-point lead but the Mariners kept attacking off the dribble and drew within 52-50 with 18 seconds to play. Tina Botterill responded with a pair of free throws to ice the win. “It was a physical game. But we were so pumped and readv for it,” said Hawks player of the game Aman Hasebenebi, who scored 11. Krissty Kort added 4 and Tanya Sadler 4. The Hawks hit 21-23 from the line. Anne Kranenberg was chosen player of the game for the Mariners after scoring 13. Sherry Jardine added 9, Amanda Bjork 8 and Gina Sage 8. Mariners coach Tom Elwood told the Nanaimo Daily News that he got ejected for ridiculous reasons. “The ref told Sherry (Jardine) that if I didn’t sit down, he was going to toss me. So I said, if that’s what you want to do, let’s get it over with and get on with this game. Then he obliged. … We could have just said to hell with it, rolled in, put in our 40 minutes and leave. We almost pulled it off. The kids just played hard.”

        In the other bronze semi, the Ste-Foy Dynamiques thrashed the Medicine Hat Kwahommies 92-52. Marie Cote-Henry was chosen player of the game for the Dynamiques, while Johanna Stauffer earned the laurels for the Kwahommies.

        In the bronze medal match, the Ste-Foy Dynamiques edged the Humber Hawks 67-65 as Carol D’Amours scored 13 and Caroline Sainte-Pierre 12. Aman Hasenbenebi led the Hawks with 19. Audrey Kaersenhout added 15. Chantal Bellevance was chosen player of the game for the Dynamiques, while Hasebenebi earned the laurels for the Hawks. “We took the first game loss tough,” said Dynamiques coach Sonia Ritchie. “But the girls have character and they didn’t want to quit.” The Hawks were scoreless for six minutes early but Missy McCutcheon and Aman Hasebenebi nailed treys as they took an 12-11 lead. The Dynamiques led 35-33 at the half and maintained a slim margin to the final buzzer. Hawks guard Lindsay Higgs told The Coven that “I think the pressure just got too much for us to handle. We started to come back but it was just too late.” Hawks coach Jim Henderson said “I certainly didn’t consider the tournament in any way a failure of a lack of success. I am pleased and proud of this group. They have brought a good name to Humber College across the country. I’m pleased to be a part of these players.” The Hawks (coached by Jim Henderson, assisted by Denise Perrier) also included Tanya Sadler, Melissa McCutcheon, Tina Botterill, Brenda Chambers, Lindsay Higgs, Nicoline Clarke, Kristen Adams, Maria Stangherlin, Filomena Aprile and Krissy Kert.

        In the final, the SAIT Trojans captured their first national title by defeating the Montmorency Nomades 90-75. Rhona McKenzie paced the Trojans with 25. Lisa Ozcan added 10. “I’m so proud of them. We faced a lot of adversity tonight,” said coach Avery Harrison, in his seventh year at the Trojan helm. Harrison added that he got great contributions from his bench, including rarely used 5-10 rookie Carmen Rutherford, who stepped in when starters McKenzie, Lisa Jensen and Sabrina Shaw found themselves in foul trouble in the first half. “Carmen played just great. We told our bench all year: ‘be ready to go. Work 100 per cent in practice because you might get called during the championship game’. And sure enough, that’s exactly what occurred. Carmen went out there and played really well,” Harrison told Canadian Press. He told the Medicine Hat News that “it was a great team effort. I’m just totally elated. I’m so happy I had to wait years to get a chance to experience winning. There’s no feeling like it.” McKenzie said “there’s not much to say. I’m on cloud nine. People really stepped up to play. It was definitely a team effort.” Lori Jackson noted that “a gold medal at nationals was our goal at the beginning of the year. This makes all the hard work we’ve put in over the last year all worth it.” Another reserve, Chantelle Kennedy, added 12 points for the Trojans. Tournament MVP Lori Jackson scored 14. The Trojans finished (42-3) overall. Caroline Levasseur paced the Nomades with 18. Caroline Roger added 15. Rhona McKenzie was chosen player of the game for the Trojans, while Caroline Roger earned the laurels for the Nomades. “I’m very proud of my players,” Nomades coach Francois Forget told the Medicine Hat News. “Our girls never gave up and every player played hard. Caroline Roger noted that “I don’t know what to say. We worked so hard, we tried our best. It’s hard to work so hard all year and not win.”

        The first all-star team featured: MVP Lori Jackson (SAIT); Rhona McKenzie (SAIT); Aman Hasebenebi (Humber); Marie-Helene Pedneau (Ste-Foy); Caroline Levasseur (Montmorency); Pascal Morin (Montmorency)

        The second team featured: Lisa Ozcan (SAIT); Audrey Kaersenhout (Humber); Chantale Bellevance (Ste-Foy); Anne Kranenberg (Malaspina); Shira Hassanali (Langara)

        The bronze medalist Ste-Foy Dynamiques: Chantal Bellavance; Marie Cote-Henry; Marie Pedneau; Carol D’Amours; Caroline Sainte-Pierre; coach Sonia Ritchie

        The silver medalist Montmorency Nomades: Caroline Levasseur; Caroline Roger; Pascal Morin; Caroline Morel; Josee Lalonde; coach Francois Forget

The gold medalist SAIT Trojans: Lori Jackson; Rhona McKenzie; Lisa Ozcan; Lisa Jensen; Carmen Rutherford; Chantelle Kennedy; Sabrina Shaw; Stacey Kulula; Melissa McIlhone; Khadijah Akbar; Mar Nai Hunt; Kendra Senger; Nicole Leclair; Laura Gordon; coach Avery Harrison