REGULAR SEASON
| Dalhousie | 17-3 | 27-7 | Carolyn Savoy | |||||
| Memorial | 15-5 | 14-9 | Doug Partridge | |||||
| Cape Breton | 10-10 | 16-11 | Ron Carew | |||||
| St. FX | 9-11 | 10-12 | Doc Ryan | |||||
| Saint Mary’s | 8-12 | 10-14 | Jill Jeffrey-Healy | |||||
| Acadia | 7-13 | 10-18 | Laura Sanders | |||||
| New Brunswick | 8-12 | 8-15? | Joyce Slipp | |||||
| U.P.E.I. | 6-14 | 9-16 | Tracy Ellsworth | |||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
New Brunswick Red Bloomers: Sandy Tomley, Donna Retson, Bonny Munn, Shelley Ryan, Heather Grasman, Jenny Powell, Gina Lohnes, Bridget Gamble, Erin Savage, Melanie Clark, Michelle Greene, Lisa Schmidt, coach Joyce Slipp
Prince Edward Island Panthers: Eireann Rigby, Angela MacIntyre, Stephanie Shive, Kara Saunders, Jennifer Sirois, Julie Mead, Trisha Atkinson, Jennifer Johnston, Tammy Wonnacott, Stephanie Maceachern, Carolyn Deighan, Kerry Stewart, Eireann Rigby, Rachel Ross, Laura Robertson, Tanya Quinn, coach Tracy MacEachern
In the quarterfinals, St. FX defeated the St. Mary’s Huskies 73-66 in overtime. Guard Tina St. Amour forced the extra session when she drained a pair of free throws with one second left on the clock in regulation to knot the score at 63. The X-Women outscored the Huskies 10-3 in the extra session. Catherine Jamieson paced the X-Women with 19 points and 13 boards. Tina St. Amour added 18, Cynthia Murphy 15 and Donna Sanderson 12 and 8 boards. St. FX led 36-32 at the half. The Huskies shot .361 from the floor, while the X-Women were .410. Jadranka Crnogorac led the Huskies with 24 points and 8 boards. Stephanie English added 15, while Toni MacAfee nabbed 11 boards. The Huskies (coached by Jill Healey, assisted by Patty Hayden and Scott Munro, manager J.P. Bourdeleau) also included Hollie Hoadley, Shawna Wright, Colleen MacNeil, Marianne Berry, Monica Miller, Tricia Waugh, Bonnie MacLean, Lisa Ward, Heather Fraser, Christina Brimson and S. Kaleigh Wiggins.
In the other quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded Acadia Axettes stunned the 3rd-seeded Cape Breton Capers 69-57. Cavell Burley led the Axettes with 17 points and 9 boards. Candace Jeffrey added 15, Amber Andrews 15 and Lynn Robertson 13, while nabbing 7 boards. Cape Breton led 32-28 at the half. Janice Moseychuck led the Capers with 32. Geralyn Moore added 8. The Capers (coached by CIS coach of the year Ron Carew, assisted by Kirt Mombourquette) also included Heidi McNeil, Deanna MacAuley, Kerrie Pyke, Krista Clarke, Nicole Durdle, Dawn Heighton, Kimberley Marsh, Kareena Landry, Richelle MacKillop and Paula Scott.
In the semis, the host 4th-seeded St. FX X-Women nipped the 2nd-seeded Memorial Sea-Hawks 58-55. Sophomore Tina St. Amour rallied the X-Women from a 13-point second half deficit. She drilled a trey with 2:56 to play to knot the score at 53 and kept attacking the basket with the penetration dribble and drawing fouls. She hit 3-4 from the line to give Dal a 56-53 lead with 50 seconds to play. St. FX’s Melanie Johnson added a free throw with 19 seconds to play. She missed her second but Donna Sanderson grabbed the rebound and was fouled, adding an insurance free throw. “Coach Doc Ryan said they’re just packing in on the big people, you’ve got to make a shot from outside,” said St. Amour. “He said I’d taken too many too many shots from the outside today, maybe three and that one went in. I guess it’s a big confidence booster whenever you tie a team and come back to win it. We worked as a team and we played magnificent defence. We came back from a nine-point halftime deficit.” St. Amour finished with 24 points. Catherine Jamieson and Ruby Viray each added 8. Michelle Healey led Memorial with 12. Jenifer Devereaux added 12. Ryan said his troops “never gave up. To memorial’s credit, it was a very hard up-tempo game in the first half. I think our big bodies wore them down as the game going. We started doing a much better job on the two outside shooters, Healey and Devereaux, who are great outside shooters. Healey has my respect. She’s been a major contributor to the league over the five years that she has played.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Dalhousie Tigers dumped the 6th-seed Acadia Axettes 72-56. The Tigers led by 15 in the first half and by 13 at halftime. But the Axettes rallied to within 57-52 with 5:43 to play. Dalhousie coach Carolyn Savoy called a time out and her troops responded, outscoring Acadia 15-5 down the stretch. “When they came to within six points, I felt that my players went out and were in control of what they could control,” said Savoy. “They just did a good job of using the clock in the last five minutes because the clock was our friend. We executed well down the stretch when we had to. Defence, rebounding and foul shooting are what win games for you. I thought we did those things.” Dalhousie out-rebounded Acadia 45-27. Carolyn Wares led Dalhousie with 22 points and 8 boards. Kathie Sanderson added 16 points and 9 boards. Wares said “we wanted to focus on their post players tonight. When we played them the last time, that’s where we got hurt. The post players kind of made a pact: we were going to front them down low, because we didn’t want them to get the ball because once they get the ball in, they could score on us. The other thing, really, is just defence.” Dalhousie had taken a 33-19 lead in the first half on a 14-1 run capped by a Danielle Moe trey. Claire Polomark, who scored 12, added a pair of treys during the run. Jackie Flieger added 13 for Dalhousie. Lynn Robertson led Acadia with 16. Candace Jeffrey added 12. Axettes guard Amber Andrews called it “a good way to end the season. We came out with fight. We didn’t get blown away, not that we expected to. But we played hard the whole game. It was just the last five minutes in the first half that we’re really upset with, that we’re killing ourselves for.”
In the final, the Dalhousie Tigers thrashed the St. FX X-Women 67-50 to win their 10th conference title but first in 10 years. “Redemption,” said Dal point guard Danielle Moe, recalling a semi-final loss to Memorial in 1995. “We’ve been waiting all year. Since last March, this is what we’ve been waiting for. We did it.” The top-seeded Tigers led from start to finish, taking a 13-point lead at the half. “It felt deserved,” said post Kathie Sanderson. “We worked hard last year but this year even more so.” Dalhousie out-rebounded St. FX 40-25 and shot .473 from the floor, while the X-Women shot .365. St. FX coach Doc Ryan said his troops “got caught up in the spur of the moment and tried to up-tempo with Dalhousie. They have a lot of firepower and consequently, when they got on a roll and got ahead, it was tough to come from behind.” Dalhousie coach Carolyn Savoy said her troops had a lot of weapons. “We played very good halfcourt office and executed well. Then, with the defence, rebounding and foul shooting, the girls have a lot of faith in that. They believe in those three things.” Savoy added that Moe, a Fraser Valley transfer “knows how to win. She had some tough hoops. That’s the best she’s played all year. Similarly, (Jody Euloth, who hit 3-3 off the bench), it’s nice to have her come out and show why she’s AUAA rookie of the year.” Jackie Flieger, who’d won two earlier titles with New Brunswick, noted that “this one is difference, in a sense, because I grew up with UNB and it was always my dream to win them there. This year we have, what 10 people that are new. It’s just tremendous that you can bring those athletes together and in such a short period of time, get that amount of production out of them.” Carolyn Wares led Dalhousie with 17 points and 7 boards. Kathie Sanderson and Danielle Moe also nabbed 7 boards each. Jackie Flieger and Susan Parke each scored 14. Parke scored 10 in the first half, including the last bucket with 4 seconds to play. Jody Euloth added 6 on 3-3 from the floor. Tina St. Amour led St. FX with 12. Cynthia Murphy added 12.
The co-bronze medalist Memorial Sea-Hawks: Michelle Healey; Jenifer Devereaux; Anne Marie Tobin; Valerie Dwyer; Joyce Tellier; Sarah MacCormack; Amy O’Reilly; Michelle Healey; Lisa Daly; Marsha Gillingham; Gwyneth Pryse-Phillips; Tara Bulgin; Karen Cameron; Andrea Dinn; Janice Gillingham; Lesley Daniels; coach Doug Partridge
The co-bronze medalist Acadia Axettes: Lynn Robertson; Candace Jeffrey; Amber Andrews; Heather O’Grady; Cavell Burley; Holly Richards; Virginia Cann; Michelle St. Pierre; Jennifer Graham; Colleen Burke; Denise Johnston; Tobi Taylor; Heidi Moyse; Samara Eaton; Carrie McBay; coach Laura Sanders; assistant Brigitte Edwards
The runner-up St. Francis Xavier X-Women: Tina St. Amour; Cynthia Murphy; Sarah Williams; Tera Severson; Jana Gordon; Margo Olscamp; Cathy Jamieson; Ruby Viray; Melanie Johnson; Rita Rieksts; Julie Kerr; Heather Wright; Janice Murphy; Donna Sanderson; Bev McLean; coach Doc Ryan; assistant John McCabe; manager Laura Keenan; manager Trudy Kent; manager Lindsay Tozier
The champion Dalhousie Tigers: Alana Coffin; Amy MacDonald; Heather McIntyre; Nancy O’Regan; Kathie Sanderson; Jackie Flieger; Jody Euloth; Claire Polomark; Lindsay Collis; Susan Parke; Danielle Moe; Christine Cunliffe; Carolyn Wares; Gen Macdonell; coach Carolyn Savoy; assistant Shawn MacDonald; manager Natalie O’Regan