In the quarterfinals, held in Calgary, the 2nd-seeded Olds Spartans dumped the Lloydminster Barons 73-63 Kim Qually scored 31.
The Ardrossan Bisons clipped the Calgary Bowness Trojans 77-51. The Trojans (coached by Tom Auvigne) included Sandra Olson, Cheryl Foster, Stephanie Klimuk, Melanie Blair.
The Ponoka Broncs nipped the Grande Prairie St. Joseph’s Ceinahs 61-59. Maeve McGuire led the Ceinahs with 16. Alena Bubenik added 9. Ceinahs coach John Witschen told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune that “that’s one of the things that happens at provincials. They had a three-point shooter that scored some key baskets but we had the ball in the last 30 seconds but just couldn’t get off a final shot.” The Ceinahs (coached by Witschen) also Sherri Onushko.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Magrath Pandas dumped the Edson Parkland Pacers 75-57.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Olds Spartans defeated the Ardrossan Bisons 58-56 as Kim Qually scored 21 before fouling out with 14 minutes to play, and Anne Trenholm 17. Kristy Wiebe paced the Bisons with 23. Spartans coach Tom Christensen told the Red Deer Advocate that “we did well without Kim. It was scary when we lost her but the rest pulled together.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Magrath Pandas dumped the Ponoka Broncs 46-28 as Wendy Balderson scored 16. Simone Pipestem paced the Broncs with 18. The Broncs led 21-15 at the half. Broncs coach Phoebe Dortman told the Red Deer Advocate that “we just didn’t execute offensively. Our shooting percentage must be terrible. We were cold from the start and never did get it going.”
In the bronze medal match, the Ardrossan Bisons edged the Ponoka Broncs 69-65. Simone Pipestem paced the Broncs with 28. The Broncs (coached by Phoebe Dortman) also included Brandi DeeLeuw.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Olds Spartans nipped the top-seeded Magrath Pandas 46-45 as Julie Birch hit a 17-foot jumper with four seconds remaining on the clock. The Pandas led 21-19 at the half and stretched their lead to 27-21 early in the second half but soon found themselves in foul trouble. Wendy Balderson fouled out with 11 minutes to play. The Pandas led 45-42 with 1:30 to play but the Spartans hit a bucket, setting the state for Birch’s heroics. Kim Qually led the Spartans with 13. Anne Trenholm added 13. Birch, celebrating her birthday, told the Red Deer Advocate that “I just shot it. It’s the biggest basket I’ve made. This feels great.” Spartans coach Tom Christensen said “our girls kept their composure all year. We won a lot of games at the buzzer this season and that experience helped us today. The girls just kept their cool. … It was as close as we had anticipated. We felt it would almost be a case of whoever made the last shot.” The Spartans packed the paint in the final minutes. Christensen said “we saved a special defence for the end and it gave them a lot of trouble down the stretch.” Sandra Stevenson led the Pandas with 10. Vicki Strong and Bonnie Tollestrup each added 8. The Pandas coach Ross Blackmer said “we were so intent on stopping Qually that we let a couple of other players get by. 0ur biggest strength is our defence. We held five teams in our last seven games to below 40 points. But offensively we’ve been streaky. We just went cold at the wrong time. We had our shots, but it’s difficult to shoot in this gym. We still had a good season. We were 29-6 overall, but we wanted to make it 30.”
The bronze medalist Ardrossan Bisons: Kim Qually; Coreen Chizewski; Lynn Knopp; coach Ralph Tuominen
The silver medalist Magrath Pandas: Wendy Balderson; Kristen Kerr; Sandra Stevenson; Bonnie Tollestrup; Paige Peterson; Vicki Strong; Cathy Balderson; Mindy Cook; Sandra Stocker; Terryl Garriock; Laura Heath; coach Ross Blackmer
The gold medalist Olds Spartans: Kim Qually; Anne Trenholm; Kari Qually; Tanya Smith; Julie Birch; Kathy Royer; Cynthia MacKenzie; Kara McDonald; Laurie Hildebrand; coach Tom Christenson; assistant Steve Templeton