REGULAR SEASON
| Victoria | 17-3 | 23-4 | Kathy Shields | ||||||
| Alberta | 15-5 | 25-11 | Trix Baker | ||||||
| Calgary | 13-7 | 18-13 | Shawnee Harle | ||||||
| U.B.C. | 8-12 | 11-18 | Debbie Huband | ||||||
| Lethbridge | 6-14 | 8-18 | Dori Johnson | ||||||
| Saskatchewan | 1-19 | 2-26 | Tracey Bowie | ||||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Lethbridge Pronghorns: Deborah Hubbard, Kym Foley, Crystal Kain, Joanne Clark, Crystal McPherson, Alex Young, Anne Trenholm, Patricia Balderson, Shannon Selmser, Jan Maclellan, Krista Robson, Jennifer Duff, coach Dori Rodzinyak
Saskatchewan Huskies: Jacqueline Lavalee, Tanya Price, Claire Dore, Sandra Anderson, Stephanie Riou, Lori Macdougall, Kim Grant, Lesley Peacock, Sherri Buckler, Susan Deibert, Heather Primeau, Alison Fairbrother, coach Tracey Bowie
In the semis, Victoria d’d UBC 55-47 and 67-45 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Victoria prevailed 55-47. …………………………………………………… In game two, Victoria romped 67-45. The Vikes took a 42-26 lead at the half and were in total command. “We knew we had to get our butts in gear,” said Viking guard Tamara Carruthers. “Basically that’s what Kathy
[coach Shields]
said to us. She didn’t want a repeat of Friday.” Shields said “we didn’t just stand around and watch (Canada West player of the year Lisa) Koop carry the load for us. Everybody contributed. Lindsay Brooke showed the leadership tonight that she’s going to show us for the next four year. And Lisa Bright made a big difference for us, too.” Bright led the scoring parade with 14. Koop added 12, Angela Mangan 11, Brooke 10 and Kim Johnson 8. Janet Jay Rawlinson knocked back 13 to pace the Thunderbirds.
In the other semi, Alberta defeated Calgary 77-61; 88-65 (2g-0). The series win was Alberta’s first since Canada West went to a 20-game regular season format in 1987. “The team has really come together and they’re going to have great success in the future and I’m said not to be a part of it,” said graduating guard Krista Johnstone. …………………………………………………… In game one, Alberta won 77-61. Jackie Simon led Alberta with 18. Leighann Doan led Calgary with 26 points and 15 boards. Alberta led 42-26 at the half. “Calgary seemed a little more nervous than we were,” said Alberta coach Trix Baker. “We’re a little more experienced now.” Rania Burns and Jackie Simon gave Doan difficulties in the paint, although she “still got enough. But we made her work hard for everything she got,” said Burns. Simon led Alberta with 18. Burns added 16. Alberta led 42-26 at the half, primarily on the perimeter shooting of Kirstin Johnson, who finished with 16 points. Simon and Burns each nabbed 6 boards. …………………………………………………… In game two, the Pandas led 48-33 at the half. Jackie Simon led the Pandas with 21, despite playing only the first half. “I told the girls it was really important this weekend to not think of Calgary as people because we get very personal with them and sometimes it gets us into trouble. Because a lot of the kids have played together on provincial teams, when we played them in Calgary and somebody would bump us, it was like a personal bump. So we got into some mind games. … Calgary came in here a little bit scared and we played both games very composed. We’re not looking at any game as a playoff game. We’re just playing for the moment.” Panda Kirsten Johns said “We have 12 damn good players. But (Calgary) just seemed really timid. Maybe we gave them more credit than they deserved. They tried to run with us and couldn’t do it. It was payback for losing last year in Calgary.” Rookie Robyn Haig added that “we were ready and we worked as a team. You can’t stop a whole team when they’re playing like that. They were nervous Friday. But we thought they’d give us a better run on Saturday. They didn’t. Jackie (Simon) definitely stepped it up. She and Rania (Burns) played really well.” Erin McAlister topped Calgary with 16.
In the finals, Victoria defeated Alberta 70-68; 75-61 (2g-0).
In game one, Victoria defeated Alberta 70-68 despite almost blowing a seven-point lead with two minutes to play. Alberta’s Sara Armstrong was called for traveling with five seconds to play, although everyone thought she was fouled. Possession went over to the Vikings and Lisa Koop hit one of two free throws at the other end after drawing a foul and Vic escaped with the win. Megan Dalziel scores 20 for Victoria. The Vikings had led by nine with five minutes to play and appeared in control when Lisa Koop collected a loose ball for an uncontested layup with 1:20 to play after teammate Lisa Bright knocked down a Panda defender. But Jackie Simon knifed into the paint for a bucket that cut the margin to 69-68 with 30 seconds remaining. The Pandas trapped freshman point guard Lindsay Brooke, who coughed the ball. The Pandas got off a shot with 7 seconds reaming but it swatted out of bounds by Angela Mangan. Alberta inbounded it to Sara Armstrong but she was called for an extra step. Koop hit a free throw with 0.2 seconds remaining to expand the final margin. A last bomb by Alberta fell short. Koop added 11 points for Victoria while Bright and Brooke each notched 9. Simon paced Alberta with 28. Rania Burns added 13. “We were a bit fortunate tonight,” conceded Bright. “We had too many mental lapses to let them back into the game.” Coach Kathy Shields said her Vikes “got tight and lost our poise.”
In game two, Victoria defeated Alberta 75-61 to earn coach Kathy Shields her 12th Canada West title. The Vikes led 36-34 at the half. Lisa Koop paced Victoria with 19. Lisa Bright added 14 on 6-7 from floor and 6-9 from line, Lindsay Brooke 13, Angela Mangan 10 and Megan Dalziel 10. Jackie Simon hit 16 for Alberta. Cathy Butlin added 12 and Kim Wyley 8. The Pandas also included Robyn Haig, Naeve Maguire, Kristan Johnstone, Sara Armstrong, Kristy Wiebe, Lisa Stubbs, Nadine Fennig, Kristin Johns and Rania Burns. Freshman point guard Lindsay Brooke was elated to be part of the Victoria tradition. “I remember sitting up in those stands and watching Eli and Wiltjer [former Vikes stars and Olympians] and all those great women’s players; and here I am playing in a UVic uniform in front of a crowd like this,” said Brooke, who scored 13 and dished 4 assists. “it was exciting and awesome. The crowd really helped us out and spurred us on.” Freshman Angela Mangan concurred. The Vikes tradition is “100 per cent the reason I came to play at UVic – what this program stands for. Kathy [Vikes coach Kathy Shields] has had some first-rate athletes that won national titles and went on to play in the Olympics and worlds.” Panda Jackie Simon said “we didn’t take care of the ball as well as we can. And they seemed to score on every turnover. (Viking) Lisa Koop, as always, played well but the rest of the team was able to pick it up and we couldn’t stop them.” Panda Nadine Fennig said “they capitalized on every turnover. And we didn’t. We were really excited and confident for Saturday’s game. But we just couldn’t pull it out and it was really disappointing.”
The co-bronze medalist British Columbia Thunderbirds: Janet Jay Rawlinson; Laura Esmail; Jessica Mills; Trixie Cruz; Erin Fennell; Carmel Burke; Lisa Scharf; Janice Moss; Lindsay Sidwell; Naryn Watt; Carly Peterson; coach Deb Huband; assistant Stacy MacPhail; assistant Susan Ewanick; trainer Simon Excoffon
The co-bronze medalist Calgary Dinosaurs: Erin McAlister; Kara Haines; Kwynn Blazina; Jody Currie; Cathy Payne; Denise Page; Heidi Suderman; Heather Graham; Alison McGinn; Lauren Bell; Leighann Doan; Amy Wesseling; coach Shawnee Harle
The runner-up Alberta Pandas: Jackie Simon; Rania Burns; Nadine Fennig; Cathy Butlin; Kristy Wiebe; Sara Armstrong; Kirstin Johns; Lisa Stubbs; Maeve Maguire; Kim Wyley; Krista Johnstone; Robyn Haig; coach Trix Kannekens-Baker
The champion Victoria Vikings: Lisa Koop; Lisa Bright; Lindsay Brooke; Angela Mangan; Megan Dalziel; Tamara Carruthers; Janet McLachlan; Lily Grohovac; Joanna Holdsworth; Kim Johnson; Emily King; Karen Davies; coach Kathy Shields