REGULAR SEASON

Calgary 20-0   Donna Rudakas          
  Lethbridge 14-6   Trix Baker          
  Victoria 12-8   Kathy Shields          
  U.B.C.  8-12   Misty Thomas          
  Saskatchewan  3-17   Irene Wallace          
  Alberta  3-17 9-20 Diane Hilko          
                   

       

League turfs postseason tourney and switches to best-of-three series for semis and finals.

Playoff non-qualifiers:

Alberta Pandas: Joanna Ross, Susan Chalmers, Tracie Wilkie, Tracey Cook, Celeste Bazinet, Kelley Anderson, Tracy Henger, Denise Forwick, Jill Giesinger, Lorna Stielow, Lisa Scheffer, Beatrice Compte, Trish Hague, Anita Ehlert, Leslie Lacroix, coach Diane Hilko

Saskatchewan Huskies: Krista Thiessen, Sherri Theis, Stacy Wilson, Kelly Rask, Alana Holt, Charmaine Anderson, Jessica Dunne, Laura Laird, Alison Hatcher, Carla Coulson, Leanne Springer, Tricia Strelioff, Donna Drysdale, Krista Thiessen, coach Irene Wallace, assistant Heather Witzel

 In the semis, Calgary defeated U.B.C. 66-43; 90-58 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Calgary coasted to an easy 66-43 win despite struggling on offence. “The team was there,” said Cori Blakebrough, who scored 16. “If somebody was getting beat, someone else came over to help. That’s what was most important. And that’s going to be crucial when we go into the nationals.” Coach Donna Rudakas was pleased with the squad’s team defence. “The feeling was on offence that we couldn’t get it together and that’s to U.B.C.’s credit. We were able to just pick away at it but we never able to just let loose. It seemed like both teams were concentrating on defence.” Calgary took an early 14-0 lead before Jana Jordan stemmed the bleeding for the T-Birds. U.B.C. twice got within eight but Calgary built a 36-20 lead at the half. UBC coach Misty Thomas said “effort is not our problem. It’s where we direct our effort, that’s the problem. Tonight, they concentrated on the things we asked them to do against Calgary. But in order for us to be successful, we’ve got to play 40 minutes with whoever is on the court. It’s got a total team effort for a total game. We don’t have the luxury of playing 35 minutes and being able to win. We got a good 30-32 minutes and the other eight minutes we were just overwhelmed again. They built their lead in spurts, not consistently throughout the game.” Veronica VanderSchee led Calgary with 20. Cathy Johnson added 10. Jodi Evans nabbed 12 boards while Calgary out-rebounded Victoria 46-26. Jordan led U.B.C. with 14. …………………………………………………… In game two, Calgary coasted to an easy 90-58 win as coach Donna Rudakas experimented with different offensive systems. “Both worked well,” Rudakas said. “Because we were complete control of the first half, we took charge of our own destiny a little bit. We change our defence a little bit – and we certainly changed our offence – in anticipation of the final.” Veronica VanderSchee called it a “relief” to win the series. “We knew what was coming and we were, fortunately, able to stop some of their offence because we’ve seen it before.” The Dinosaurs committed an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers and hit 31-64 from the floor and 5-12 from the arc. Calgary led 45-38 at the half. “Our shooting was really poor in the first half,” said Rudakas. “We were shooting well below 50%, which was unlike us on the course of the season. I mean, we tried to stay as loose as we could – we were sort of almost joking about it – but in the first half, it wasn’t funny.” Cori Blakebrough led Calgary with 25. VanderSchee added 22. Jodi Evans nabbed 11 boards as Calgary out-rebounded UBC 47-17. Tessa Valg led UBC with 15 points.

In the other semi, Victoria defeated Lethbridge 70-59; 60-45 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Victoria defeated host Lethbridge 70-59 as Jenni Sutton scored 20, Tara Gallaway 15, Heather Bohez 10, Kelly Boucher 10, Shannon Conway 6, Kathy Keats 4 and Sandi Begg 4, while Giselle Gauthier, Michelle Williams and Adele Fedorak were scoreless. Shawna Molcak paced the Pronghorns with 18. Andrea Hlady added 12, Stephanie Hlady 10, Shantal Reed 6, Vanessa Upton 4, Martina Szilagyi 4 and Cori Gunderson 2, while Lindy Westrop, Shari Jensen, Shawna Larratt, Virginia Judd and Shelly Kormos were scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game two, Victoria dumped Lethbridge 60-45 as Jenni Sutton scored 19, Shannon Conway 12, Kelly Boucher 8, Tara Gallaway 8, Kathy Keats 6, Sandi Begg 5 and Heather Bohez 2, while Giselle Gautheir, Michelle Willaims and Adele Fedorak were scoreless. Shawna Molcak paced the Pronghorns with 13. Stephanie Hlady added 10, Andrea Hlady 9, Martina Szilagyi 4, Shantal Reed 4, Cori Gundeson 3 and Vanessa Upton 2, while Linda Westrop, Shari Jensen, Shawna Larratt, Virginia Judd and Shelly Kormos were scoreless.

In the finals, Calgary defeated Victoria 71-55; 97-78 (2g-0).

In game one, Calgary thumped Victoria 71-55 as Cori Blakebrough nailed four treys and scored 23. Blakebrough couldn’t recall most of her shots. “I never remember, unless it’s a bad shot where I throw up an air ball. Like I said, I only remember the ones that are really bad or ugly. I don’t know why.” Victoria led 12-6 early but Blakebrough hit treys to bookend a run as Calgary moved ahead 20-18. Jodi Evans hit a trey and Blakebrough another as Calgary took command. “With a great shooter like Cori is, if you let her get untracked, you’re going to have a long night ahead of you,” said Vikings coach Kathy Shields. “We did and that’s what happened.” Calgary led 31-24 at the half. “I bet everybody in the crowd could anticipate what we were doing before we did it,” said Blakebrough. “It was slow and it didn’t feel like everybody was in the offence. It was stagnant, I guess. The word is stagnant.” Veronica VanderSchee said the Dinosaurs were a little nervous, “realizing that we haven’t been in a real tough game for a while.” Coach Donna Rudakas thought her troops were too loose. “They tried to stay very relaxed and we were so relaxed that we needed to punch our game up a little bit. It took too long. We were not playing good solid team ball at the start of this game but that corrected itself.” Calgary out-rebounded Victoria 33-21 and held Vikings star Kelly Boucher to just 2 points. VanderSchee notched 22 and grabbed 11 boards, while Jodi Evans scored 14 and grabbed 8 boards. Cathy Johnson scored 8, Linda Orr 2 and Sue Jickling 2, while Melita Bishop, Patti Cummings, Audra Duregon and Shawn Roscoe were scoreless. Jenny Sutton led Victoria with 17. Shannon Conway and Kathy Keats each added 12, Heather Bohez 4, Tara Gallaway 4, Michelle Williams 2, Giselle Gauthier 2 and Kelly Boucher 2, while Adele Fedorak and Sandi Begg were scoreless. The Dinosaurs led 31-24 at the half. The win was Calgary’s 66th straight.

In game two, the Dinosaurs quickly put the game out of reach, building a 51-27 lead at the half as they rolled to a 97-78 win. “We’ve been waiting for nationals all year,” said guard Cori Blakebrough. “Finally, we’re going.” The Dinosaurs registered their 67th straight victory. “We just got down early and it took us a while to shake our heads and get out of it,” said Vikings coach Kathy Shields. “In the second half, the girls came to play. Although it wasn’t enough, they finished off with pride. I don’t know of any team in the country that’s going to beat them. They’re a great team.” Veronica VanderSchee paced Calgary with 23. Blakebrough added 18. Jodi Evans registered the fourth triple-double of her career, scoring 17, grabbing 10 boards and dishing 11 assists. Blakebrough was elated to register a win in her last appearance at the Jack Simpson Gym. “It’s more special to me this year because I realize it’s my last year here. It was great. Everybody played again. That makes it much more special for everyone.” Sue Jickling added 15 for the Dinosaurs, Linda Orr 11, Cathy Johnson 4, Audra Duregon 3 and Shawn Roscoe 2, while Melita Bishop was scoreless. Shannon Conway led the Vikettes with 13. Tara Gallaway added 13, Kathy Keats 11, Jenny Sutton 11, Sandi Begg 9, Kelly Boucher 8, Heather Bohez 6, Michelle Williams 5 and Giselle Gauthier 2, while Adele Fedorak was scoreless.

After the season, the league votes to abandon playoff series in favour of a single-knockout tourney.

The co-bronze medalist University of British Columbia Thunderbirds: Tessa Valg; Jennifer Smallridge; Sue MacPherson; Val Philpot; Jana Jordan; Dorit Ahlborn; Kim Sauder; Lisa Nickle; Tracey MacDonald; Lorraine Marken; Elissa Beckett; Tania Gladiuk; coach Misty Thomas; athletic director Joanne Jones; SID Don Wells

The co-bronze medalist Lethbridge Pronghorns: Shawna Molcak; Stephanie Hlady; Virginia Judd; Shantal Reed; Andrea Hlady; Martina Szilagyi; Vanessa Upton; Corie Gunderson; Shari Jensen; Shawna Larratt; Lindy Westrop; Shelley Kormos; Laura VanHam; Shauna Kormos; coach Trix Kannekens-Baker; assistant Ingeborg Pot; SID Susan McLean

The runner-up Victoria Vikings: Jenny Sutton; Kelly Boucher; Shannon Conway; Kathy Keats; Sandra Begg; Heather Bohez; Tara Gallaway; Adele Fedorak; Gisele Gauthier; Michelle Williams; Charlene Klasema; Maria Klassen; Brenda Cope; coach Kathy Shields; assistant Shawnee Harle; manager Lawrence Carlson; athletic director Ken Shields; SID Mona Ghiz

The champion Calgary Dinosaurs: Veronica VanderSchee; Cori Blakebrough; Jodi Evans; Cathy Johnson; Sue Jickling; Patti Cumming; Linda Orr; Audra Duregon; Shawn Roscoe; Melita Bishop; Lisa Fortems; Denise Levesque; coach Donna Roman-Rudakas; assistant Jenny Woods; trainer Heidi Von Schoenig; athletic director Dr. Robert Corran; SID Jack Neumann