REGULAR SEASON
| Victoria | 19-1 | 29-3 | Kathy Shields | ||||||
| Alberta | 16-4 | 36-7 | Trix Baker | ||||||
| Calgary | 10-10 | 16-16 | Shawnee Harle | ||||||
| U.B.C. | 10-10 | 15-14 | Debbie Huband | ||||||
| Saskatchewan | 5-15 | 10-21 | Lisa Thomaidis | ||||||
| Lethbridge | 0-20 | 0-25 | Dori Johnson | ||||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Lethbridge Pronghorns: Alex Young, Lara Huggen, Natalie Hudec, Melissa Metz, Kim Foley, Stacey Gammon, Andrea Walker, Lisa Prosser, Carla Johnson, Courtney Fraser, Aleisha Romeril, Jennessa Van de Griend, coach Dori Rodzinyak
Saskatchewan Huskies: Lauren Evans, Claire Dore, Sandra Anderson, Olivia Greenwood, Nicole Poier, Jacqueline Lavallee, Carla Puetz, Reanne Levson, Allison Fairbrother, Mackenzie Grant, Kelly Sommerfeld, Sara Knowles, coach Lisa Thomaidis
In the semis, Alberta defeated Calgary 59-47; 70-54 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Alberta prevailed 59-47. Marianna Raguz led Calgary with 17. “It got a little scary,” said Alberta post Jackie Simon. “Calgary is a team that builds on momentum. They started to close the gap but we stuck to our game plan and it worked for us.” Simon scored 17 and nabbed 10 boards. …………………………………………………… In game two, Alberta prevailed 70-54 after leading 34-23 at the half. Rania Burns scored 15 and nabbed 3 boards. Leighann Doan scored 20 for Calgary. “All the emotions, all the anxiety – we sort of put it together and said they’re not going to outwork us. They’re not getting anything from us,” said Burns. “We’re going to send them home and say: ‘have a nice summer’. When you make a mistake, you want nothing more than a chance to prove that you made a mistake and you’re better than them.” Sara Armstrong, who notched 14 points, said the Pandas were miffed by Dinosaur guard Marianna Raguz comment that Calgary was more “athletically” gifted than Alberta. “We definitely had that in the back of our minds. We thought that was pretty amusing. I think we showed just how athletic we are. We can compete with anyone. Every individual on our team has what it takes. Going 8-0 against Calgary (during the season) really shows that we are the better and the most athletic team between the two of us.” Alberta ripped off a 11-0 run to standard the second half to put the game out of Calgary’s reach. “We had everyone a little more focused,” said Armstrong. “We still had lulls but the thing is they didn’t score throughout those lulls. That was the difference. And we had spurts, so we were able to pick up a good lead.” Burns said the Pandas “got a solid performance from everybody, including people who are playing less than one minute and people who are playing 30-plus minutes.” Burns said “it was total revenge. It was totally payback from last year. They snuck two away from us last year because we took them for granted. We took them too lightly. We just wanted to prove to them you’re not doing that again and we’re going all the way. Rania Burns led Alberta with 15. Burns said “that’s what we need to win. We need everybody to contribute. You can’t win a national championship with 2 or 5 players. You’ve got to win with 13. … We wanted to prove that we weren’t ranked number one for the better part of a season just on a whim. It was for a reason.”
In the other semi, Victoria defeated UBC 2g-0 52-48 and 59-43 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… Diminutive 5-4 point guard Lindsay Brooke dominated the second half as the Vikings rallied from a 10 half-time deficit to defeat the T-Birds 52-48 in game one. Brooke finished with a game-high 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals and hit a huge three-pointer down the stretch as UVic escaped. “She gets a look on her face and it’s just like ice,” said coach Kathy Shields. “She finds a way to get things done for us. She seems to have done that in every big situation all year.”
The Vikes looked sluggish and error-prone in the first half. But they held UBC to 14 points in the second half. “UBC came in very hard tonight and I don’t think we really showed up to play as hard as they did,” said Vikes forward Megan Dalziel, who scored 10. “They fought hard and beat us in all the little categories.” UVic went on a 16-8 run to start the second half and pulled out the win. “I thought we found a way to win tonight … we battled hard in the second half,” said Shields, adding that her troops shot poorly but faced a good UBC defence and were dominated on the boards. They stepped up their game in the second half. “We came out in the second half and just played hard, the way we have to,” Dalziel said. “Offensively we weren’t moving the ball well early on, we were kind of stagnant and expecting one person to do it all.” Lily Blair added 10 for Victoria. UBC was led by Jessica Mills, 14, and Jennifer MacLeod, 13. UVic didn’t get a lead (47-46) until Janet McLachlan hit a layup with 2:30 left. Dalziel extended the lead to 50-48 with a three-pointer with 1:30 left, and the defence took over shutting down UBC the rest of the way. “When we started moving the ball things started to happen for us,” noted Dalziel. “I guess a win is a win in the playoffs.” Shields surmised that high expectations affected her Vikes. “They expect themselves to challenge all the way through (the playoffs) and when things didn’t go their way at the start of the game, they got a little tight.” …………………………………………………… In game two, Victoria overwhelmed UBC 59-43. Janet McLachlan led UVic with 19 points while Megan Dalziel had 10 and Lindsay Anderson eight. Lindsay Brooke scored 4. “Tonight, they didn’t need me to score,” she smiled. “It totally doesn’t matter to me. As long as we win.” Canada West player of the year Jessica Mills led UBC in scoring with 14 points before fouling out.
In the finals, Victoria defeated Alberta 48-42; 60-62; 70-64 (2g-1).
In game one, Victoria defeated Alberta 48-42 in a low scoring defensive affair. Both teams shot poorly. Victoria hit 12-41 from the floor and Alberta 12-42. But Cathy Butlin was 4-10 from beyond the arc for the Pandas. Vic was 5-16 from beyond arc with Kim Johnson hitting 3-7 and point guard Lindsay Brooke 2-2. Vic was 9-13 from line while Alberta was 6-12. Kim Johnson paced the Vikings with 15 points. Frosh Lindsay Anderson added 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Janet McLachlan scored 7. Cathy Butlin led Alberta with 15 points, 4 boards and 3 assists. Jackie Simon added 10 points and 14 boards, while Rania Burns scored 6. Johnson hit a trey to make it 31-24 with about 11 minutes left but the Pandas rallied to within 32-31 with 7:18 remaining. Johnson knifed into the paint for a layup. Rania Burns countered with a jumper and then Johnson canned a three-pointer from deep in the right corner to pull the Vikes ahead 37-33 with six minutes to go. Johnson’s short jumper with just over two minutes remaining made it 44-35 and killed Panda hopes. “It’s definitely been a mini-slump until tonight,” said Johnson. “The leg has been pretty painful to play on but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. But tonight I adjusted my game a little and waited a little longer to get my shot. Because of the knee, I can’t cut to the basket like I’m used to.” Janet McLachlan also stepped up, taking a nice feed from Lindsay Brooke to score a bucket from underneath and draw a foul for a three-point play that made it 40-35 for UVic with 5:13 remaining. Megan Dalziel, meanwhile, scored on a putback to make it 42-35 with 3:44 left.
In game two, Alberta edged Victoria 62-60 in overtime. The Pandas led 39-31 at the half and the score was tied at 56 after regulation. Jackie Simon scored 23 and nabbed 15 boards to lead Alberta. Cathy Butlin added 15 and Rania Bruns 12. Janet McLachlan hit a jumper to put UVic ahead 58-56 on the first play of the five-minute overtime period but Jackie Simon snuck underneath for a pair of buckets to give the Pandas the lead. Lindsay Brooke’s pull away jumper tied it 60-60 before Simon buried the knife. She outbattled two UVic defenders beneath the basket for the ball and put it up and in to score the winning bucket. After a missed Vikes attempt, a Brooke steal with 12.7 seconds left gave the ball back to UVic. After a timeout, the Vikes inbounded but only managed a desperation Lily Blair prayer that fell short. Vic had taken a 42-31 lead in the second half and appeared in command before their game fell apart. “They were hungrier than we were out there tonight,” said Vikings coach Kathy Shields. “They wanted it more. They out-rebounded us down the stretch. It seems they wanted the ball more than we did when it was loose or coming off the rim. And down the stretch, we didn’t execute.” Point guard Lindsay Brooke said “they attacked us in the second half and we didn’t respond physically. We just didn’t get it done tonight.” Brooke said the Vikes were confused by the Pandas zone on the final play in overtime. “We couldn’t respond. We looked for an open person but we couldn’t get it into somebody’s hands for a quality chance.” Lindsay Anderson led the Vikes with 14 points. Janet McLachlan added 13 points and 5 boards. Lily Blair notched 11, Kim Johnson 9, Lindsay Brooke 6 and Megan Dalziel 5.
In game three, Victoria defeated Alberta 70-64. Vic led 35-28 at half. Lindsay Brooke scored 19 points. Rania Burns led Alberta with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Brooke hit a series of critical buckets for the Vikes down the stretch. “This is awesome,” said Brooke. “This is exactly what we wanted to do heading into the national tournament.” Pandas coach Trix Baker noted that “we lost to a team that shot better than we did, they played very composed – they played the way you’d expect them to on their court. The difference today was Lindsay Brooke. She came out and really took over the game. She played outstanding.” Brooke’s trey stopped an Alberta 6-0 run late in the first half. She hit another from behind the arc early in the second half to give the Vikes a 10-point lead, their largest of the match. And when the Pandas drew to within three points at 47-44 midway through the second half, Brooke scored the next four points to establish some breathing room. “Unbelievable,” said Vikes coach Kathy Shields of Brooke’s play. “Whenever we need it, she just revs it up, and the greatest thing is I don’t have to say anything to her.” Brooke called the win a product of work ethic and teamwork. The game was still up for grabs – thanks to a pair of huge three- point baskets by Alberta’s Cathy Butlin in the final minute – until Megan Dalziel hit one of two free throws with 10 seconds left. That gave UVic a 68-64 lead, but even then, it was only when rookie phenom Lindsay Anderson stole a pass and drew a foul with three seconds on the clock – she hit both shots from the charity stripe – that the Vikes iced it.
The co-bronze medalist Calgary Dinosaurs: Leighann Doan; Marianna Raguz; Alison McGinn; Laura Jablonski; Jody Currie; Linnae Bee; Ella Kinloch; Renee Smid; Anna Bekkering; Meagan Atkinson; Debra Hidson; Jennifer Goldade; Kirsten Swann; coach Shawnee Harle
The co-bronze medalist British Columbia Thunderbirds: Jessica Mills; Amy Jonker; Brandie Speers; Lisa Scharf; Charmene Adams; Naomi Dove; Julie Smulders; Kimberly Neilleur; Jennifer MacLeod; Stacy Reykdal; Jen Duff; Allison Treat; Andrea Dufva; coach Deb Huband
The runner-up Alberta Pandas: Robyn Haig; Cathy Butlin; Megan Depew; Jackie Simon; Sara Armstrong; Kim Wyley; Kristy Wiebe; Amanda Smith; Pam Hoyles; Erin Sandusky; Rania Burns; Laura Ramsay; Marianee Radmanovich; coach Trix Kannekens-Baker
The champion Victoria Vikings: Lindsay Brooke; Kim Johnson; Lindsay Anderson; Janet McLachlan; Kim Oslund; Megan Dalziel; Lily Blair; Emily King; Cristy Solomon; Joanna Holdsworth; Lindsay McDonald; Kimberley Lobb; coach Kathy Shields