REGULAR SEASON
| BALDWIN | NELSON | |||||||
| Memorial | 17-3 | 21-12 | Doug Partridge | Cape Breton | 18-2 | 25-3 | Fabian McKenzie | |
| Dalhousie | 14-6 | 20-11 | Carolyn Savoy | New Brunswick | 9-11 | 14-15 | Joyce Slipp | |
| St. Mary’s | 7-13 | 13-19 | Jill Jeffrey | U.P.E.I. | 9-11 | 13-13 | Reagh Vidito | |
| Acadia | 4-16 | 4-21 | Angie McLeod | St. FX | 2-18 | 4-23 | Doc Ryan | |
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Acadia Axewomen: Amy Brazil, Vanessa Styles, Kim Hurley, Jennifer Bishop, Kerry Karsten, Jessica Pratt, Shaina Partridge, Jessica Bower, Kyla Magnus, Ginny Gane, Stacey Lillico, Laura MacDonald, Jill Lake, Crystal Lafamme, Claire Armstrong, coach Angie McLeod
St. Francis Xavier X-Women: Jennifer Chisholm, Shannon Matheson, Emily Schafflik, Carla MacNeil, Nicole Ross, Leah Mochrie, Laura Clark, Darlana Withers, Tara Kinnear, Christine Kirk, Stephanie Dinn, Deidra Smith, Karmen Brown, coach Doc Ryan, assistant Darlene Benson, assistant Theresa MacCuish, manager Holly MacKenzie, assistant manager Katie Sue Hayne, therapist Tara Sutherland, therapist Kurt Stevenson, student therapist Jacqueline Poulain
In the quarterfinals, held at UNB’s Aitken Centre, the 6th-seeded St. Mary’s Huskies upset the 3rd-seeded Dalhousie Tigers 65-62 as Jamie Walker scored 24 on 9-16 from the floor and 6.10 from the line. Laura McPherson notched 17 on 4-10 from the floor, 9-9 from the line and 8 boards. Alise Brown scored 11 on 4-7 from the floor. Heather Rudderham scored 9 on 3-9 from the floor and 7 boards. Catherine Steiner and Samantha Coutts each scored 2, while Vanessa Ryan, Elizabeth Gibbons and Ashley Briggs were scoreless. The Huskies hit 22-50 (.440) from the floor, 4-5 from the arc and 17-22 (.773) from the line, while garnering 30 boards 13 assists, 17 fouls, 15 turnovers, 9 steals and 4 blocks. Leslie Duncan paced Dalhousie with 19 points on 9-12 from the line and 3 boards. Kelly Donald scored 15 on 6-9 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 6 boards. Virginia Dickison scored 10 on 3-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Ryan Mckay scored 8 on 2-9 from the floor, 10 boards and 5 assists. Gillian Donald scored 4, while Carolyn Peppin, Kathleen McNeil and April Scott each scored 2. Kaitlin Long and Leanne Crossman were scoreless. The Tigers shot 26-54 (.481) from the floor, 2-9 from the arc and 8-12 from the line, while garnering 29 boards, 13 assists, 20 fouls, 16 turnovers, 6 steals and 2 blocks. The score was knotted at 28 at the half. The Tigers (coached by Carolyn Savoy, assisted by Amy O’Reilly) also included Erin Chalk, Meredith Owen, Leslie Duncan and Robyn Constantine.
In the other quarterfinal, 5th-seeded U.P.E.I. Panthers stunned the 4th-seeded New Brunswick Red Bloomers 67-64 in overtime as Melissa-Anne Campbell scored 23 on 6-12 from the floor, 11-15 from the line and 6 boards. Katherine Walters scored 11 on 5-14 from the floor and 5 boards. Katie Andrews scored 10 on 3-8 from the floor and Mary Catherine Conny 10 on 3-12 from the floor and 7 boards. Lindsey Coade scored 9 on 4-9 from the floor and 7 boards, while Jennifer Russell scored 4. Chelsea Kavanagh and Melissa Breton were scoreless. The Panthers shot 22-61 (.361) from the floor, 4-17 (.235) from the arc and 19-28 (.679) from the line, while garnering 35 boards, 13 assists, 21 fouls, 12 turnovers and 5 steals. Kathleen Singh paced New Brunswick with 22 points on 6-15 from the floor, 10-16 from the line and 9 boards. Elizabeth Marr added 10 on 3-5 from the line and 4 boards. Christy McBride scored 8 on 3-14 from the floor and 5 boards. Lou Walsh notched 7, Kathleen Springer 6 and Jennifer Veysey 6, along with 6 boards. Joanna Fox scored 3 and Jill Rowe 2, while Leah Corby, Emily Murphy and Stephanie Dinn were scoreless. The Varsity Reds shot 21-59 (.356) from the floor, 3-13 (.231) from the arc and 19-27 (.704) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, 10 assists, 16 turnovers, 4 steals and 1 block. The Varsity Reds (coached by Joyce Slipp, assisted by Dick Slipp and Tyler Slipp) also included Melanie Walker, Victoria Walker and Kate Ross. “It was a killer,” said Panther guard Melissa-Anne Campbell. “We just stuck together through four practices this week. We believed in ourselves and we came out and proved it today.” UNB’s Katie Springer sent the game to overtime with a 30-foot three-pointer at the buzzer. “Even when Springer hit that shot we didn’t put our heads down,” Campbell said. “Not once.” Still, it looked bleak for the Panthers when Walters fouled out seconds into OT, then Campbell did likewise with 3:15 to play. But the Reds couldn’t ride the momentum home. “That’s a tribute to our balance,” UPEI first-year coach Reagh Vidito said. “Katie Andrews and Jen Russell stepped up in overtime. Teamwork wins basketball games no matter what the situations are.” UNB, looking to force a second overtime, couldn’t get the ball inside to Singh and Russell hit another free throw with 4.5 seconds left. Lou Walsh threw up a desperation three-pointer as time expired. “Kathleen kept them in the game, without a doubt whatsoever,” Campbell said. “We just played her as tight as we could because we know, basically, she’s their only solid post player. Our posts stood up and took care of business.” The Reds trailed 10-1 five minutes in, 28-26 at the half and 44-35 midway through the second half. “We weren’t shooting the ball well,” Reds coach Joyce Slipp said. “We were tight, we didn’t move the ball well, kids were trying to go one-on-one. I just couldn’t pull them out of that funk. I kept thinking ‘If we can use some smoke and mirrors and pull this one out, then we’ll be more relaxed tomorrow’, but we certainly weren’t the team we were last weekend, for sure. I don’t think we ever got out of the jitters. We didn’t have a lot of people play well for us.” Vidito saluted Campbell’s stellar performance. “She’s a trooper. She steps up in big games. I believe she’s going to play better on this kind of stage. She’s a special player. She’s just getting to the point where she’s going to excel.”
In the semi-finals, the Cape Breton Capers throttled the St. Mary’s Huskies 80-59 as Kelli McHugh scored 25 on 8-15 from the floor, 8-9 from the line, 5 assists and 3 steals. Heather Ross added 17 on 5-8 from the floor, 7-9 from the line and 5 boards. Maureen Murrin scored 12 on 5-8 from the floor and 4 boards. Cecilia Romero notched 8 on 4-5 from the floor. Tamara Alleyne scored 6, Sharalee Dempster 5, Debbie Ruiz 4 and Katherine Kanaski 3, while Ashley Downie was scoreless. The Capers hit 27-51 (.529) from the floor, 4-10 from the arc and 22-27 (.815) from the line, while garnering 25 boards, 15 assists, 14 fouls, 14 turnovers, 10 steals and 1 block. Laura McPherson paced St. Mary’s with 22 points on 10-15 from the floor and 11 boards. Jamie Walker scored 9 on 4-10 from the floor and 5 boards. Samantha Coutts notched 8 on 2-8 from the floor. Alise Brown scored 6, Heather Rudderham 5, Venessa Ryan 5, Catherine Steiner 2 and Ashley Briggs 2, while Christie Darius and Elizabeth Gibbons were scoreless. The Huskies hit 25-62 (.403) from the floor, 1-8 (.125) from the arc and 8-9 (.889) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, 13 assists, 20 fouls, 18 turnovers, 6 steals and 1 block. “We were right with them until they turned it up a few notches defensively in the second half and really took away what we were trying to do,” said St. Mary’s coach Jill Jeffrey. “We missed some layups and made some mental errors and you really can’t do that in a conference semifinal.” With 15 minutes to play, the Capers led 49-44 but exploded for a 14-0 run that put the outcome out of reach.
In the other semi, Memorial thumped 5th-seeded U.P.E.I. 70-52 as Jenine Brown scored 21 on 7-19 from the floor, 6-6 from the line and 8 boards. Amy Dalton added 17 on 6-10 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 7 assists. Krista Singleton scored 10 on 5-7 from the floor. Leslie Stewart scored 8 on 3-7 from the floor. Paul Parker scored 4, Meagan Seaward 4, Kelly Himmelman 3 and Amy Peveril 2, while Erin Mullaley and Renee McGrath were scoreless. The Sea-Hawks hit 25-59 (.424) from the floor, 2-8 from the arc and 18-27 (.667) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, 12 assists, 16 fouls, 9 turnovers, 7 steals and 2 blocks.
Katherine Walters led U.P.E.I with 11 points on 4-6 from the floor and 4 boards.
Lindsay Coade scored 10 on 4-16 from the floor and 13 boards. Mary Catherine Connolly notched 9 on 3-6 from the floor. Katie Andrews scored 9 on 3-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Chelsea Kavanagh added 6, Katie Hamilton 3, Melissa-Anne Campbell 3 and Jennifer Russell 1, while Katie McCormack, Melissa Breton and Carly Mckinnon were scoreless. The Panthers hit 18-48 (.375) from the floor, 7-15 (.467) from the arc and 9-13 (.692) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, 9 assists, 22 fouls, 19 turnovers and 8 steals. The score was knotted at 28 at the half. UPEI led 34-31 early in the second half before Amy Dalton triggered a 16-0 run over six minutes of play and coasted to an easy win. “The only thing I said to our players at halftime was, ‘if we make the shots, we win the game,” said coach Doug Partridge. “They got a break because Jenine and Amy got into foul trouble and we had to go into a zone and do some things to keep them on the floor which limited our aggressiveness.” Dalton said that “I knew if we kept playing good D, the shots would fall. When they were doing such a good job on Jenine, someone has to step up. But it’s not even that. We had to get Jenine open in different spots. She played on the post the last 10 minutes and that got her going.” UPEI coach Reagh Vidito said his Panther felt good at halftime. “Our first half was about execution and tempo control. We knew if we got into a fast-paced game, it was to their advantage.” But the Panthers wore down in the second half, he added. ‘We were going with seven players for the most part. They are a physically strong team. They are also as good defensively as they are offensively and we didn’t have the depth to match them. …Our game plan to keep the game under control. We didn’t want to get caught in their pace. It was good and bad when Jenine was 2-for-12 (in the first half) because you know she’s not going to have a half like that again. She’s just too good for that to happen. Our fear was that they would get a big run. We tried to put the clamps on it but we found ourselves fighting an uphill battle.”
In the final, Memorial defeated Cape Breton 80-73 as Jenine Browne scored 22 on 8-15 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 5 boards. Paula Barker scored 18 on 8-16 from the floor and 6 boards. Leslie Stewart scored 17 on 7-11 from the floor and 2-4 from the arc. Amy Dalton notched 10 on 2-5 from the floor, 7 boards, 6 steals and 7 assists. Krista Singleton scored 7 on 3-4 from the floor. Renee McGrath scored 6 on 3-6 from the floor and 4 boards, while Amy Peveril and Kelly Himmelman were scoreless. The Sea-Hawks hit 31-58 (.534) from the floor, 3-13 (.231) from the arc and 15-20 from the line, while garnering 26 boards, 21 assists, 18 fouls, 20 turnovers, 12 steals and 1 block. Heather Ross paced Cape Breton with 25 points on 8-17 from the floor, 9-9 from the line and 2 steals. Maureen Murrin scored 18 on 6-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 4 boards. Kelli McHugh scored 17 on 7-14 from the floor and 4 boards. Cecilia Romero scored 8 on 4-9 from the floor and 8 boards. Tamara Alleyne scored 3 and Shannon Labre 2, while Debbie Ruiz and Sharalee Dempster were scoreless. The Capers hit 26-58 (.448) from the floor, 2-6 from the arc and 19-22 (.864) from the line, while garnering 26 boards, 6 assists, 21 fouls, 21 turnovers and 10 steals. Amy Dalton took the basketball after the game and walked it into the dressing room and gave it to Jenine Browne. ‘I wanted to take the ball in and hand it to Jenine Browne on her way out. I wanted her to know that she had to lead us to this last championship and she did,” said Dalton, with tears in her eyes. “I knew Jenine Browne wasn’t going to play back-to-back bad games. I was almost happy when she was bit cold (in the semis). Because I knew that she could get 60 the next day. I knew we were going to win this game. I didn’t want to say it yesterday but this bunch of girls competes like no others I’ve known. The girls wanted to win so badly for me and Jenine (as fifth-year seniors), I felt bad for them. I told them, ‘guys, you’ve got to enjoy this. You’ve got to have fun. Just come out and play your hearts out. Don’t do it for us. Do it for yourselves. Do it for the team’ They had a lot of pressure on them and they stepped up big.” Browne said losing wasn’t an option. “I think I had too much energy. I knew I’d shake it off and come out strong today. We definitely didn’t want to go out losing in this final. We want to keep going as long as we can in these uniforms.” Barker said that because it was Brown’s and Dalton’s last game, “I thought I’d try to do my best to bring home the championship for them because they deserve this. We knew we had to come out to play today and I think everybody showed up.” Coach Doug Partridge was elated that he’d made the decision to start the freshman Barker. “I said a couple of weeks ago that we couldn’t afford to have her off the floor and she just stepped up and delivered today. I have a lot of faith in Paula Barker. People may not have realized the way she was scoring this year, in terms of giving us baskets when we needed them.” The Sea-Hawks shot a sizzling .690 while building a 49-37 lead.
After the season, St. Francis Xavier axes coach Peter ‘Doc’ Ryan after 17 years at the helm. The X-Women finished 2-18 on the season in last place in the AUAA, after starting the season with 8 straight losses and going 0.9 on the road. “It’s been 17 great years for me and I believe that it is time for a change,” Ryan said in a news release. “I am looking to go in a different direction and looking forward to another coaching challenge. The program here is left in good shape with some outstanding young talent headed in the right direction. I wish them all the best.” Earlier in the year, Ryan was suspended for a “policy matter” by acting athletic director John McFarland and assistant Theresa MacCuish head the squad for the final three games of the campaign. The 54-year-old Ryan was born in the Dutch Antilles, playing university ball in the U.S. and Canada before becoming head coach of the Dalhousie men’s team in 1981. He took over the X-Women in the summer of 1988 and won the conference title in 1997. MacCuish coaches the program for one year.
The co-bronze medalist Saint Mary’s Huskies: Laura McPherson; Jamie Walker; Samantha Coutts; Alise Brown; Heather Rudderham; Venessa Ryan; Catherine Steiner; Ashley Briggs; Christie Darius; Elizabeth Gibbons; (coached by Jill Jeffrey Healy) also included Emma Halpin, Emily McPherson, Lisa Barrett and Shannon Grant.
The co-bronze medalist Prince Edward Island Panthers: Katherine Walters; Lindsay Coade; Mary Catherine Connolly; Katie Andrews; Chelsea Kavanagh; Katie Hamilton; Melissa-Anne Campbell; Jennifer Russell; Katie McCormack; Melissa Breton; Carly Mckinnon; Vanessa Foster; coach Reagh Vidito
The runner-up Cape Breton Capers: Heather Ross; Maureen Murrin; Kelli McHugh; Cecilia Romero; Tamara Alleyne; Shannon Labre; Debralee Ruiz; Sharalee Dempster; Katherine Kanaski; Ashley Downie; Ashley Vokey; Mackenzie Turner; Lovely Covis; coach Fabian McKenzie
The champion Memorial Sea-Hawks: Jenine Browne; Amy Dalton; Erin Mullaley; Kayla Franey; Renee McGrath; Paula Barker; Leslie Stewart; Meagan Seaward; Amy Peveril; Kelly Himmelman; Krista Singleton; Meghan Dalton; coach Doug Partridge; assistant Bill Wiseman; assistant Erica Coultas; assistant Elizabeth Dohey; SID Michelle Healey