| (1) | Windsor | 80 | ||||||
| (8) | Laval | 50 | Windsor | 56 | ||||
| (4) | Cape Breton | 58 | Cape Breton | 47 | Windsor | 63 | ||
| (5) | Toronto | 49 | ||||||
| —–WINDSOR | ||||||||
| (2) | Saskatchewan | 58 | ||||||
| (7) | Wilfrid Laurier | 51 | Saskatchewan | 58 | Saskatchewan | 49 | ||
| (3) | Carleton | 44 | St. F.X. | 40 | ||||
| (6) | St. F.X. | 50 |
In the Eastern regional semis, held at
the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium at University of New Brunswick, the University
of Western Ontario Mustangs clipped the host Varsity Reds 82-66. The Varsity
Reds got off to a hot start but cooled off and in spite of early foul trouble
for Western, the V-Reds trailed 20-15 after the first. The second quarter
started with Western racing out of the gate with five quick points but the
V-Reds were able to answer with an athletic tip-in by second year guard Laura
Fowler and back-to-back baskets by fifth year post Amanda Sharpe forcing
Western into the game’s first time-out. Western led 36-33 at the half. The poor
shooting for UNB continued into the third quarter but they were able to rebound
and defend well enough to tie the score with seven minutes to go in the frame.
The Mustangs responded with a 7-0 run to stretch their lead to 45-38 which would
be the catalyst for their 55-46 lead going into the fourth quarter. The pace of
the fourth quarter was no different from the rest of the game. With the crowd
behind them, the V-Reds were able to trim the lead to five with just over seven
minutes left but Western responded again with defensive stands and offensive
execution to stretch their lead to 68-54 with 4:09 left in the game. UNB made a
valiant effort but it was too little, too late as Western prevailed. Western’s
coach Stephan Barrie was extremely pleased with the effort that his team put
forward. “Our girls played really well. We battled through a lot of adversity,
as we have for the second half of the season. Our best player was [Jacklyn
Selfe] out so players had to redefine their roles and they did a great job of
that tonight. We knew UNB was going to be tough… They are a very dangerous
team in terms of their transition offense and some of their key kids are big
time CIS players.” Matteke Hutzler paced Western with 29 on 14-24 from the
floor, 1-4 from the line, 11 boards, 2 steals and 2 locks. Jenny Vaughan added
20 on 7-14 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 7 boards and 5
assists. Laura Dally added 13 on 5-9 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 2 boards
and 2 assists. Katelyn Leddy added 9 on 2-3 from the floor, 5-5 from the line
and 3 boards. Beckie Williams scored 4 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc and
3 boards. Kelly Moulden added 4 on 2-4 from the floor. Lacey Knox scored 2,
while Rebecca Moss, Melissa Rondinelli, Stephanie Lundstrom and Lauren Seabrook
were scoreless. The Mustangs hit 33-67 (.493) from the floor, 7-21 (.333) from
the arc and 9-14 (.643) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 9
on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 5 steals, 5 blocks, 10 turnovers and 25
fouls. Amanda Sharpe paced New Brunswick with 23 on 7-15 from the floor, 9-11
from the line, 13 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Leah Corby added 19 on 7-19 from
the floor, 5-11 from the arc and 4 boards. Claire Colborne added 8 on 3-13 from
the floor, 0-7 from the arc, 2-4 from the line and 2 steals. Laura Fowler added
5 on 2-5 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Jordanne Holstein added 4 on 1-2
from the floor and 2-2 from the line. Emma Russell scored 4 on 2-8 from the
floor, 0-3 from the arc, 8 boards and 9 assists. Megan Corby added 3, while
Melissa Foster was scoreless. The Varsity Reds hit 22-73 (.301) from the floor,
6-27 (.222) from the arc and 16-23 (.696) from the line, while garnering 33
boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, 13
turnovers and 14 fouls.
In the other Eastern regional semi, the Toronto Varsity Blues
dumped the Fraser Valley Cascades 78-69. Toronto led 22-16, 34-31 and 55-43 at
the quarters. The Varsity Blues took the early lead by six points and carried
that into the second quarter, where UFV came alive and ran off the first eight
points to take a 24-23 lead. The Varsity Blues rebounded with an 8-0 run. UFV
hung around and two late Tessa Klassen baskets right before the half brought
UFV to within three points at the intermission. In the third quarter, the
Varsity Blues outscored UFV by nine points and held the Cascades to 12
points. This opened up a 55-43 lead after three quarters. In the final
quarter, UFV kept pressuring Toronto but the OUA East regular season champs did
not budge holding their double-digit lead midway through the quarter. The
Cascades made one last run late in the quarter but could not knock the lead
under ten points until two minutes remaining when they trailed by nine points.
Nicki Schutz paced Toronto with 24 on 8-20 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc,
8-11 from the line, 9 boards and 2 assists. Jill Stratton notched 12 on 5-11 from
the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 4 boards, 4 assists and 3
steals. Sherri Pierce added 10 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-4
from the line and 3 boards. Joanna Medri scored 8 on 3-12 from the floor, 0-2
from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 3 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Erin McNeely
added 7 on 3-10 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-3 from the line, 7 boards,
4 assists and 5 steals. Liane Bailey added 6 on 2-3 from the floor and 2-3 from
the arc. Megan Stoncius added 4, Alicia Van Kampen 3, Amanda Lauzon 2 and Julie
Longauer 2. The Varsity Blues hit 27-70 (.385) from the floor, 4-13 (.308) from
the arc and 20-30 (.667) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 11
on the offensive glass, 17 assists, 13 steals, 19 turnovers and 19 fouls.
Alyssa Gaukel paced Fraser Valley with 14 on 5-12 from the floor, 4-7 from the
arc and 5 boards. Sarah Wierks added 12 on 4-12 from the floor, 4-4 from the line,
10 boards and 2 steals. Tessa Klassen added 11 on 4-11 from the floor, 0-2 from
the arc, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Aieisha Luyken notched 10
on 3-11 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-5 from the line, 2 boards, 8
assists and 4 steals. Nicole Wierks added 9 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-3 from the
line and 4 boards. Courtney Bartel added 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the
arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 steals. Tessa Hart added 3 and Sam Kurath 2. The
Varsity Reds hit 23-66 (.348) from the floor, 7-15 (.467) from the arc and 16-24
(.667) from the line, while garnering 29 boards, including 3 on the offensive
glass, 12 assists, 10 steals, 23 turnovers and 21 fouls.
In the Eastern regional final, the Toronto Varsity Blues stunned the Western Mustangs 65-57. Joanna Medri iced the win with trey with 29 seconds remaining as the Blues pulled off the upset. After a slow start, which saw only four points scored in the first five minutes, the Mustangs pulled away and a late three by Beckie Williams would give Western a 13-6 advantage after the first quarter. Second-year forward Alicia Van Kampen and OUA East rookie of the year Jill Stratton combined for 10 points early in the second to rally Toronto within 19-16. Western’s rookie guard Laura Dally tallied six late points as the Mustangs led 27-21 at halftime. The Blues opened the second half with a 10-4 run to even the score at 31-31 at the midway point of the third. Both teams exchanged baskets throughout the rest of the frame and a late jumper by Stratton would bring the game within 42-40 heading into the fourth quarter. A 6-0 start to the fourth would give Toronto their first lead since early in the game. The Blues went on to gain a seven-point lead with under five minutes remaining; however, Western battled back to bring the game within two with 1:11 to go. The Blues persevered and Medri’s late three would seal Toronto’s ticket to the Final 8. Jill Stratton was chosen player of the game for Toronto, while Katelyn Leddy earned the laurels for Western. Jill Stratton paced Toronto with 17 on 7-15 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 5 assists. Nicki Schutz scored 17 on 6-15 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 3-5 from the line and 12 boards. Erin McNeely added 14 on 6-19 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 assists. Alicia Van Kampen scored 9 on 4-9 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 7 boards. Joanna Medri notched 4 on 1-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 6 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Megan Stoncius added 2 and Sherri Pierce 2, while Liane Bailey was scoreless. The Varsity Blues hit 26-76 (.342) from the floor, 4-17 (.235) from the arc and 9-15 (.600) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 6 steals, 1 block, 12 turnovers and 11 fouls. Katelyn Leddy paced Western with 16 on 5-13 from the floor, 6-8 from the line and 9 boards. Laura Dally added 11 on 5-14 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 3 boards. Rebecca Moss notched 9 on 3-5 from the arc, 6 boards and 3 assists. Matteke Hutzler scored 8 on 4-7 from the floor, 9 boards and 3 steals. Beckie Williams added 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Lacey Knox scored 4 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 3 boards. Jenny Vaughan added 2 on 1-10 from the floor, 6 boards and 2 assists, while Kelly Moulden and Melissa Rondinelli were scoreless. The Mustangs hit 22-62 (.355) from the floor, 4-14 (.286) from the arc and 9-12 (.750) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 7 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 6 steals, 3 blocks, 14 turnovers and 16 fouls.
In the Central regional semis, held at the Carleton Raven’s Nest, the St. Francis Xavier X-Women stunned the University of Alberta Pandas 82-73. St. FX led 22-12 after one quarter and 37-32 at the half. Alberta led 57-56 after three quarters. St. FX relentlessly attacked with the penetration dribble, dominated the offensive boards and harried rookie Panda point guard Sally Hillier into ballhandling miscues as they built a 24-12 lead but Alberta clawed within 37-32 at the half on Anneka Bakker’s post defence, Georgia Popovici’s low post moves and several aggressive drives by Katie Arbuthnot. Alberta’s sloppy ballhandling and inability to stop Ashley Stephen on the dribble led to a layup drill early in the second half as St. FX rebuilt a double-digit lead. Arbuthnot and Marisa Haylett, though, began to give St. FX a bit of its own medicine by attacking the baseline as Alberta rallied with an 18-2 run capped by a Popovici trey. Although the Pandas extended their lead to seven, St. FX capitalized on several altogether mysterious officiating calls to notch a decisive 18-1 run. “This is the first time we played a Canada West team and we just wanted to show them that you shouldn’t downplay the East coast because we’ll bring it to you every time,” said Stephen. St. FX coach Matt Skinn said his troops pressure defence and attacking style proved instrumental in the win. “We don’t get nervous and we just play hard when we need to.” Ashley Stephen paced St. FX with 20 on 6-18 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 8-10 from the line, 13 boards, 4 steals and 3 blocks. Sheryl Chisholm added 16 on 5-9 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Donisha Young notched 10 on 3-9 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 12 boards. Jocelyn Moore scored 9 on 4-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2 assists and 2 steals. Spencer Lockhart added 8 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-3 from the line and 2 boards. Victoria Anderson scored 7 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Rebecca Sheehan added 6 on 3-8 from the floor and 3 boards. Kristen Jones scored 3 on 1-12 from the floor and 5 boards. Camesha McKenzie added 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. The X-Women hit 29-75 (.387) from the floor, 5-12 (.417) from the arc and 19-26 (.731) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 12 steals, 4 blocks, 12 turnovers and 21 fouls. Marisa Haylett paced Alberta with 20 on 7-22 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 9 boards and 4 steals. Georgia Popovici added 12 on 4-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 11 boards and 2 assists. Anneka Bakker added 10 on 3-6 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 8 boards. Kendra Asleson notched 9 on 3-7 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc and 6 boards. Katie Arbuthnot scored 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 3 blocks. Sally Hillier added 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Alysia Rissling added 6 on 3-5 from the floor, 3 boards and 2 assists. Saskia Van Ginhoven added 2, while Sarah Binns was scoreless. The Pandas hit 25-62 (.403) from the floor, 4-10 from the arc and 19-24 (.792) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 7 steals, 8 blocks, 22 turnovers and 16 fouls.
In the other semi, the host Carleton Ravens survived the Winnipeg Wesmen 62-59. Winnipeg took an early 22-17 lead by lobbing the ball inside to rugged 6-5 post Alexandria MacIver and capitalizing on Amy Ogidan’s athletic drives, horrific Ravens marksmanship and Kendall MacLeod’s foul trouble. But Courtney Smith, Krista Van Slingerland and Ashleigh Cleary finally got on track from the perimeter as Carleton rallied to a 27-26 edge at the half. The Ravens extended their lead to 40-30 as Van Slingerland drilled a pair of treys and Bush knifed along the baseline for a layup but Ogidan kept attacking and Winnipeg kept lobbing the ball to MacIver to rally within four. MacLeod and Bush had the answers, though. MacLeod hit a trey, posted-up for a tough bucket and blocked a shot, while Bush twice pilfered the ball for runout layups as Carleton moved ahead by 13 and then withstood a late Winnipeg thrust. “We just wanted it more,” said Cleary. “We did what we could (against MacIver). Eventually, we learned that we could just play behind her and force her to put it down” on the floor. Coach Taffe Charles said the Ravens defence was solid “when it needed to be, at times. But we get so uptight, sometimes we just start turning our minds off.” Winnipeg coach Tanya McKay said “the kids played hard. We had a tough stretch where we did not score. We finished strong and had a good chance to tie the game.” Alyson Bush paced Carleton with 20 on 6-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 7-10 from the line, 6 boards, 7 assists and 5 steals. Krista Van Slingerland added 11 on 4-13 from the floor, 3-8 from the arc, 3 boards and 2 assists. Ashleigh Cleary notched 9 on 4-11 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Kendal Macleod scored 6 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Bailey Lomas added 6 on 2-5 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Jennifer Stoqua added 5 on 1-5 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Courtney Smith scored 3 and Genavieve Melatti 2, while Beryl Mefful, Jessica Resch and Elizabeth Roach were scoreless. Resch dished 4 assists. The Ravens hit 21-62 (.339) from the floor, 9-27 (.333) from the arc and 11-18 (.611) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 7 steals, 1 block, 9 turnovers and 19 fouls.
Amy Ogidan paced Winnipeg with 23 on 7-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 7-10 from the line, 7 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Alex MacIver added 16 on 7-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the line and 10 boards. Caitlin Gooch notched 5 on 2-11 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists. Kaitlin Rempel scored 5 on 2-5 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Stephanie Kleysen added 3, along with 4 boards, Mackenzie Prasek 3, Alyssa Grant 2 and Yael Kaplan 2, while Ashleigh Chichlowski was scoreless while nabbing 3 boards. The Wesmen hit 21-53 (.396) from the floor, 4-16 (.250) from the arc and 13-22 (.591) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 6 assists, 5 steals, 3 blocks, 15 turnovers and 17 fouls.
In the central regional final, the St. Francis Xavier X-Women stunned the Carleton Ravens 64-59. In a tight, defensive struggle, the Ravens relinquished 18 offensive rebounds, a bushel of second-chance opportunities and shot the ball like something typically found a pasture. Coach Taffe Charles was distraught at the notion the Ravens would have to rely on a wild-card invitation if they’re to play for a national title. “We were just hoping to win. Nobody got any bodies on people. They wanted it more than we did and it showed. We had our opportunities,” Charles said. “I was hoping that we’d be better. I thought we’d learned our lessons, but obviously not.” As for Carleton’s wild card chances, Charles said: “We had a chance to get in the way we wanted to. We don’t have a lot of history backing us. They say these things aren’t political, but sometimes they are. We tried to avoid that. Right now, who knows?” Although Carleton struggled to find any kind of shooting touch, they clawed to a 22-20 lead at the half largely as a consequence of stellar defence. They efficiently closed off penetration lanes, leaving the X-Women almost entirely reliant on the post moves of Donisha Young. St. FX took command of the offensive glass early in the second half, with several putbacks and a couple of treys by Ashley Stephen putting the X-Women ahead 44-37. Carleton rallied back to within 50-49 on great ball distribution by Alyson Bush and tough baskets by Kendall MacLeod. However, the X-Women kept pounding the ball inside to Young, and they rebuilt a slim lead before icing it from the perimeter on a trey by Sheryl Chisholm, an 18-footer by Rebecca Sheehan, and two free throws by Stephen. “Whee,” an elated Stephen said. “We played our game. From the beginning, we wanted to box them out. They’re the No. 1 defensive rebounding team in the country. We knew we had a job to do and we just did it. We knew we just had to come out and play hard, and we knew that, if we gave it our all, it would happen.” X-Women coach Matt Skinn said offensive rebounding was the difference. “Our second chances gave us the advantage. And Donisha worked her butt off (Saturday night). She was getting position inside.” Donisha Young paced St. FX with 16 on 7-12 from the floor, 2-6 from the line and 9 boards. Ashley Stephen added 15 on 3-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 7-8 from the line, 9 boards and 2 assists. Sheryl Chisholm notched 11 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 3 boards. Kirsten Jones scored 7 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 steals. Victoria Anderson scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 3 assists and 3 steals. Spencer Lockhart added 4, along with 2 boards, Jocelyn Moore 2, Rebecca Sheehan 2, along with 4 boards and 2 assists, and Camesha McKenzie 2, along with 2 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. The X-Women hit 21-55 (.382) from the floor, 4-13 (.308) from the arc and 18-28 (.643) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 8 steals, 2 blocks, 24 turnovers and 22 fouls. Kendall Macleod paced Carleton with 16 on 4-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 7-10 from the line, 9 boards and 2 steals. Ashley Cleary added 15 on 5-12 from the floor, 5-7 from the line and 3 boards. Alyson Bush notched 10 on 5-7 from the floor, 2 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Krista Van Slingerland scored 8 on 3-4 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 4 boards and 3 steals. Elizabeth Roach scored 7 on 3-5 from the floor and 1-2 from the arc. Bailey Lomas added 3, while Courtney Smith, Genavieve Melatti, Jessica Resch, Beryl Mefful and Jennifer Stoqua were scoreless. The Ravens hit 21-56 (.375) from the floor, 3-11 (.273) from the arc and 14-21 (.667) from the line, while garnering 28 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 12 steals, 2 blocks, 19 turnovers and 21 fouls.
In the Western Regional, held at the University of Regina, the host Cougars clipped the Victoria Vikes 83-73. The Cougars scored 11 consecutive points over a three-minute span midway through the fourth quarter to pull out the win. Victoria came out strong, opening up a lead that reached as many as 13 points in the second quarter as Debbie Yeboah scored 10. But the Cougars countered with a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to 36-32 at the half. Carmen Lapthorne opened up the third quarter with a three-pointer for Victoria, but the Cougars responded with a 10-1 run to give the Cougars their first lead since the first quarter. The Cougars led 57-54 after three quarters and back-to-back three-pointers by Danielle Schmidt pushed the lead up to nine. Victoria fought back with six consecutive points to make it 65-62, but the Cougars put together an 11-0 run to go up 14 with three minutes left. “We struggled again in the first half, but got it going much better in the second,” Cougars coach Dave Taylor said. “Dani Schmidt going 5-for-5 from the three-point line gave us a huge spark when we needed it the most.” Danielle Schmidt paced Regina with 23 on 8-12 from the floor, 5-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists and 4 steals. Joanna Zalesiak added 20 on 6-16 from the floor, 3-7 from the arc, 5-10 from the line, 17 boards and 9 assists. Lindsay Ledingham notched 14 on 5-16 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 10 boards and 3 assists. Megan Chamberlin scored 11 on 5-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 3 boards and 2 blocks. Carly Graham added 7 on 2-8 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 2-2 from the line. Vanessa Wesolowski added 5, along with 2 boards, and Gabrielle Gheyssen 3, while Jennilea Coppola was scoreless. The Cougars hit 29-70 (.414) from the floor, 12-30 (.400) from the arc and 13-19 (.684) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 16 assists, 7 steals, 4 blocks, 14 turnovers and 14 fouls.
Debbie Yeboah paced Victoria with 24 on 8-20 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 8-8 from the line, 4 boards, 3 assists and 5 steals. Sarah Semeniuk added 18 on 8-18 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 15 boards and 2 assists. Carmen Lapthorne added 11 on 3-6 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 9 boards and 2 steals. Cassandra Goodis notched 9 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 1-2 from the line. Vanessa Forstbauer scored 7 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Jessica Renfrew added 2 and Jane Anholt 2, while Elyse Matthews was scoreless. The Vikes hit 26-66 (.394) from the floor, 5-12 (.417) from the arc and 16-21 (.762) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 7 steals, 1 block, 14 turnovers and 17 fouls.
In the other Central regional semi, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks dumped the University of Quebec @ Montreal Citadins 61-51. Wilfrid Laurier led 16-11 after the first quarter, then outscored UQAM by a 17-4 margin in the second to take a 33-15 lead at the half. The two teams then exploded in the third for a combined 44 points, with UQAM ending the quarter on an 11-2 run and scoring a total of 26 in the quarter to cut the deficit to 51-41. The offence then dried up for both teams, as UQAM and Wilfrid Laurier scored just five points in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter. A pair of Jessica Bibeau-Côté free throws brought the Citadins to within seven points with just over a minute left, but that was as close as UQAM would come. The Golden Hawks had some key defensive stops in the final minute and hit a pair of free throws to keep UQAM at bay. Felicia Mazerolle was chosen player of the game for Laurier, while Michelle Auger-Bellemare earned the laurels for UQAM. Felicia Mazerolle paced Laurier with 17 on 6-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc and 4-6 from the line. Christa Mancino added 17 on 5-11 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 6-10 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Renata Adamczyk added 12 on 5-15 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 10 boards, 3 assists and 6 steals. Amber Hillis notched 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 3 boards. Mallory Kohlmeier added 3, Doreen Bonsu 2 and Megan Grant 2, along with 14 boards. Laura Doyle, Bree Chaput and Kimberley Yeldon were scoreless. The Golden Hawks hit 22-61 (.361) from the floor, 2-14 (.143) from the arc and 15-23 (.652) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 6 assists, 12 steals, 1 block, 20 turnovers and 14 fouls. Michelle Auger-Bellemare paced UQAM with 12 on 4-12 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 2 boards. Marjolaine Gauthier-Theoret added 8 on 2-10 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 5 boards and 5 steals. Jessica Bibeau-Cote notched 7 on 2-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 5 boards. Karine Boudrias added 6 on 2-12 from the floor, 0-8 from the arc, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Emie Simard added 5, Valerie Gauvin 4, along with 4 boards, Irline Noel 4, Maida Beaulieu 3 and Selwa Maatoug 2, along with 7 boards and 2 steals. Camille Michaud, Karine Ducharme and Catherine Bougie were scoreless. The Citadins hit 17-62 (.274) from the floor, 2-14 (.143) from the arc and 15-17 (.882) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 2 assists, 9 steals, 1 block, 18 turnovers and 20 fouls.
In the Central regional final, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks stunned the host Regina Cougars 82-67. The first half was an incredibly close back-and-forth affair and featured 11 lead changes and seven tied scores. The Golden Hawks led 41-38 at the break. Laurier caught fire in the second half. The Golden Hawks went on a 14-4 run over a span of just 2:36 early in the third quarter to build up a 13-point lead and led by as many as 17. Laurier hit four of five from the beyond the arc and outscored Regina 27-15 in the quarter to take an 69-53 lead. Down 17 again early in the fourth quarter, the Cougars mounted a rally with nine consecutive points to slice the deficit back down to single digits. A long three-pointer by Carly Graham brought the Cougars to within eight with just under three minutes left, but Wilfrid Laurier scored the game’s final seven points to become just the second team to hand Regina a home loss this season. Mallory Kohlmeier paced Laurier with 25 on 9-16 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 2 assists and 3 steals. Christa Mancino added 21 on 6-13 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 8 boards and 2 blocks. Kimberley Yeldon notched 14 on 4-7 from the floor, 6-8 from the line and 7 boards. Felicia Mazerolle added 12 on 4-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 3 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Megan Grant scored 7 on 2-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Renata Adamczyk notched 3 on 1-11 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 8 boards, 2 assists and 6 steals. Amber Hillis, Laura Doyle, Bree Chaput and Doreen Bonsu were scoreless. The Golden Hawks hit 26-62 (.419) from the floor, 8-17 (.471) from the arc and 22-31 (.710) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 16 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 13 steals, 3 blocks, 12 turnovers and 14 fouls. Lindsay Ledingham paced Regina with 16 on 8-15 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Carly Graham added 13 on 5-8 from the floor and 3-4 from the arc. Joanna Zalesiak notched 11 on 3-11 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 5 boards and 7 assists. Gabrielle Gheyssen added 9 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 3 boards. Megan Chamberlin scored 8 on 4-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Danielle Schmidt added 6 on 2-5 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 6 boards. Vanessa Wesolowski added 2 and Kayla Hannah 2. The Cougars hit 28-56 (.500) from the floor, 4-15 (.267) from the arc and 7-11 (.636) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 21 turnovers and 21 fouls.
In the national quarterfinals, held at the Windsor St. Denis Centre, the 6th-seeded St. Francis Xavier X-Women dusted the 3rd-seeded Carleton Ravens 50-44 in one of the lowest scoring games in CIS tournament history. The Ravens, coached by Taffe Charles, finished tied atop the OUA East standing with an 18-4 record and made a run to the OUA title match before losing to Windsor and then falling to St. FX in the Central regional finals. They entered the draw with a 29-8 record against CIS competition. The X-Women, coached by Matt Skinn, finished third in the AUS regular season standings with a 14-6 record, won the bronze in the league’s postseason playoffs and then captured the Central regional to qualify for the nationals. They entered the draw with a 22-9 CIS record. St. FX’s win over Carleton was their second in six days, have clipped the Ravens in the Central regional finals. Both teams had trouble getting their shots to drop in the first half. St. FX led 8-7 after one quarter. Carleton led 18-17 at the half and 32-31 after three quarters. Reigning AUS defensive player of the Year Ashley Stephen said “this is a huge win for our program. No one really thought we would make it here, and now we’re headed to the national semifinals. This is awesome.” The game said 13 lead changes. St. FX became the first AUS team to reach the national semifinals since Memorial and Dalhousie in 2007. Charles aid “we just couldn’t find any offence. We didn’t make much of our opportunities. We just couldn’t get anything going.” St. FX ripped a decisive 7-0 run early in the final quarter. The Ravens never drew closer than four points after that moment, which was basically the only run either team put together throughout the game. “That was it right there,” Charles said. “We just didn’t get anything done all day. It was frustrating. … You have to give them credit, they kept us from doing a lot of the things we wanted to do. I don’t think jitters were a factor. We just didn’t get it done. We didn’t have a lot of efficiency to our play. At this time of the year, at this level of play, you have to bring your best game, and we didn’t play our best today.” Donisha Young paced St. FX with 15 on 7-8 from the floor, 1-7 from the line and 6 boards. Kirsten Jones added 13 on 6-9 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 8 boards and 4 blocks. Ashley Stephen notched 8 on 2-7 from the floor, 4-6 from the line and 8 boards. Sheryl Chisholm scored 6 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 3-4 from the line. Camesha McKenzie notched 6 on 1-7 from the floor, 4-8 from the line and 4 boards. Jocelyn Moore added 2, while Rebecca Sheehan, Victoria Anderson and Spencer Lockhart were scoreless. Sheehan garnered 3 boards and 4 assists. Anderson collected 3 boards and 3 assists. The X-women hit 18-50 (.360) from the floor, 1-10 from the arc and 13-28 (.464) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 12 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks, 13 turnovers and 11 fouls. Ashleigh Cleary paced Carleton with 11 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Alyson Bush added 10 on 4-11 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 4 boards, 5 assists and 3 steals. Krista Van Slingerland notched 7 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Courtney Smith scored 7 on 3-11 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 5 boards and 2 assists. Kendall Macleod notched 3 on 1-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 10 boards. Jessica Resch scored 3 on 1-8 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 2 boards. Genavieve Melatti added 3 on 1-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 6 boards, while Elizabeth Roach and Bailey Lomas were scoreless. The Ravens (coached by Taffe Charles, assisted by Anthony Carter, Sarah Kennedy and Anne Boneschanker) also included Jennifer Stoqua, Darcy Hawkins and Beryl Mefful.
The 2nd-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies held on for a 58-51 win over the 7th-seeded Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. The Huskies, coached by Lisa Thomaidis, captured the Canada West regular season with a 22-2 record and then collected the league’s postseason crown before entering the tournament with a 32-3 record against CIS competition. The Golden Hawks, coached by Paul Falco, finished third in the OUA West regular season standings with a 15-7 record, fourth in the OUA playoffs and then captured the Western regional to qualify for nationals. They entered the draw with a 24-12 record against Canadian foes. The Huskies opened the game with an 11-0 run and were leading 23-12 after the first quarter, 39-27 at the half and 47-40 after 30 minutes but the Hawks hung in there and cut the deficit to 51-49 with 2:40 remaining in the contest thanks to a bucket by freshman Felicia Mazerolle. “It was a tough game. We knew Laurier had a very good team and were confident coming off their big win over Regina in the Regionals,” said Thomaidis, who was named CIS coach of the year prior to the tournament. “It was a battle total. I thought we didn’t play our best basketball but we’re off to the semis.” The Huskies showed a lot of energy early in the game, running the score to 23-12 in the first quarter. Kiselyk put up six points and three rebounds in the first frame to lead all scorers. After falling behind early, Laurier managed to close the gap in the second stanza as they tightened up their post play containing Saskatchewan’s forwards and limiting them to only four points in the paint. Mazerolle came up big, dropping eight points in the quarter to go along with three assists to lead the Golden Hawks. Laurier would chip away at the lead Saskatchewan had built closing the gap to seven points in the third quarter. The 5-3 Mazerolle’s tenacious play provided her team with a lift as they attempted to close the gap on the high-flying Huskies. The Golden Hawks managed to get a couple of key defensive stops to allow them to climb their way back into the game. In the fourth, the exciting matchup continued as both teams pushed a frantic pace before the Huskies took control in the final two minutes. “Oh, my goodness, it was rough,” admitted fifth-year Huskie guard Jill Humbert, who was named player of the game for Saskatchewan. “It was rough at both ends, but we weren’t getting to the line as much as we’re used to.” Bodies were flying everywhere in this game. “It was brutal – oh, it sure was,” said Thomaidis. “It was really scrappy. We knew we were going to be in for a battle. There were no surprises there. It was everything we kind of expected, but we just didn’t handle it as well as we hoped. Thankfully, we came out of it on the winning side of it. I’m glad to be over and done with that one, for sure.” Falco said “I’m obviously really pleased the way we came back. We had a really tough start, down 11-0. It wasn’t looking too good at the start, which I guess is somewhat expected from a team at nationals for the first time. I’m really happy with the way we battled back and I’m really happy with our defence for the last three quarters to hold a team like that to 10 or 11 points a quarter, especially for a team that has been scoring at a rate of mid-to high-70s each game. It would have been nice to knock down a few more shots to get over that hump. We really couldn’t get our offence going – they really played tough defence against us and we had a really tough time getting good looks and, when we did, we missed too many shots and gave up too many turnovers to catch them. It was really tough. If you take away their outside game, they hurt you inside and, if you try and protect the paint inside, they get their outside shooters going. Hats off to them. They adjusted once we made a little run at them.” Thomaidis said her Huskies shot the ball more poorly than “we had all year. They’re a good defensive team and they really crashed the O-boards hard. They got a lot of second-chance points. We forced some early shots in the third quarter that allowed them to get back into the game. We have to do a better job handling that. When we’re not scoring, we have to run people through the defence and not be so quick to hit the shot.” Marci Kiselyk paced Saskatchewan with 15 on 4-12 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 10 boards and 2 assists. Jill Humbert added 13 on 6-22 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 7 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Kim Tulloch notched 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Jana Spindler notched 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-4 from the line, 7 boards, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Mary Hipperson added 3, along with3 steals, Katie Miyazaki 3, along with 8 boards and 2 assists, and Trisha Carriere 2, while Kabree Howard, Amy Lackie and Lauren Whyte were scoreless. The Huskies hit 21-65 (.323) from the floor, 5-18 (.278) from the arc and 11-16 (.688) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 10 steals, 8 blocks, 15 turnovers and 19 fouls. Felicia Mazerolle paced Laurier with 18 on 7-17 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 4 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Mallory Kohlmeier added 12 on 5-15 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 steals. Renata Adamczyk added 5 on 1-12 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 12 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Christa Mancino added 5 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 4 blocks. Kimberley Yeldon notched 4 on 1-7 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 10 boards and 2 blocks. Laura Doyle scored 3, Megan Grant 2, along with 10 boards, and Amber Hillis 2, while Bree Chaput and Doreen Bonsu were scoreless. The Golden Hawks hit 18-65 (.277) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 12-14 (.857) from the line, while garnering 44 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 9 assists, 7 steals, 10 blocks, 18 turnovers and 23 fouls. The Golden Hawks (coached by Paul Falco, assisted by Joy McNichol, Jennifer Russell-Smyth and Cal Keil) also included Laura Doyle, Mallory Kohlmeier, Anna Southall-Millward, Alena Luciani and Aimee Van Dam.
The top-seeded Windsor Lancers blasted the 8th-seeded Laval Rouge et Or 80-50. The Lancers, coached by Chantal Vallee, captured the OUA West regular season with a 20-2 record and then swept to the OUA title. They entered the national draw with a 32-2 record against CIS competition. The Rouge et Or, coached by Linda Marquis, finished fourth in Quebec regular season play with a 5-11 record and then stunned the loop by capturing the postseason title. They entered the draw with an 11-15 record against CIS competition. The Lancers used a 25-7 second quarter run to dispatch the Rouge et Or. Leading 16-12 after one quarter, Windsor built an insurmountable 41-19 by halftime, and were up 61-29 after 30 minutes after holding their rivals scoreless for the first 5:30 of the third period. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start but really picked it up from the second quarter on,” said Windsor coach Chantal Vallée, who gave at least 10 minutes of playing time to 10 different players on the night. “Our best players took over, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be at this time of year.” Laval coach Linda Marquis said “you can’t expect to win when you shoot two for 17 in the second quarter. We have a young team and when we started missing some easy shots, the girls panicked a little, everyone wanted to do too much.” In the first quarter the Lancers controlled the tempo with 6-3 CIS player of the year Jessica Clemençon scoring six points while Miah-Marie Langlois chipped in with five as the duo helped pace the Lancers. Laval played tight defence battling in the paint during the first quarter, capitalizing on Windsor’s miscues allowing Laval to keep the score close. Melodie Laniel Dion led the charge for the Rouge et Or with four points in the quarter. In the second, the Lancers took over with an explosion of offence and suffocating defence. The Blue & Gold dominated the paint scoring 26 of their 41 points in the half from the post position. The balanced attack by the Lancers seemed to be too much for Laval. The third frame was much of the same for the Rouge et Or as the Lancers extended their lead to 61-19 heading into the final stanza. The Lancer offence continued to click showing a variety of offensive weapons. Laval increased the intensity in the fourth quarter as they put up their biggest offensive numbers of the night outscoring the Lancers 21-19, however couldn’t overcome the large deficit. Raelyn Prince paced Windsor with 19 on 9-14 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 9 boards and 3 steals. Jessica Clemencon added 16 on 6-10 from the floor, 4-5 from the line, 6 boards, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Miah-Marie Langlois added 13 on 6-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 8 boards and 6 assists. Bojana Kovacevic added 8 on 3-13 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 9 boards. Korissa Williams notched 6 on 3-4 from the floor, 5 boards and 2 steals. Iva Peklova scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists. Jocelyn Larocque added 4, Heather Angus 4, along with 5 boards, Morgan Jean 3, along with 5 assists, and Jessica Gordon 2, while Emily Abbott and Amber Irvine were scoreless. The Lancers hit 34-75 (.453) from the floor, 2-9 (.222) from the arc and 10-16 (.625) from the line, while garnering 57 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 11 steals, 4 blocks, 17 turnovers and 22 fouls.
Melodie Laniel Dion paced Laval with 19 on 7-15 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 4-6 from the line. Marie-Michelle Genois added 11 on 3-11 from the floor, 5-9 from the line, 14 boards, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Julie Chapados added 7 on 2-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 3-3 from the line and 2 boards. Elyse Jobin notched 6 on 2-11 from the floor, 2-8 from the arc and 2 boards. Sandrine Ducruc added 4, Marie-Pascale Nadeau 2 and Eve-Sophie Lefebvre 1, while Marjorie Ferland, Catherine Andrews-Cote, Marie-Laurence F.-Laberge and Catherine Groleau were scoreless. The Rouge et Or hit 15-58 (.259) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 17-26 (.654) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 7 steals, 4 blocks, 18 turnovers and 14 fouls. Laval (coached by Linda Marquis, assisted by Monique Parent, Kim Desrape and Gilles Marquis) also included Kathryne Bariault and Catherine Crete-Belzile.
In the last quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded Cape Breton Capers dumped the 5th-seeded University of Toronto Varsity Blues 58-49. The Capers, coached by Fabian McKenzie, captured the AUS regular season title with a 16-4 record and then won the league’s postseason crown. They entered the draw with a 24-6 record against CIS competition. The Blues, coached by Michele Belanger, finished tied atop the OUA East standings with an 18-4 record, won the bronze medal in the OUA playoffs and then captured the East regional to qualify for the nationals. They entered the draw with a 29-7 record against Canadian competition. The Capers broke a 38-38 deadlock with an 11-0 run at the start of fourth quarter and then held on for the win. The Capers outscored their OUA rivals 23-12 in the first quarter and headed to the locker room at halftime with a 28-21 lead but the Blues rebounded in the third frame to tie it at 38 all after 30 minutes, with second-team all-Canadian Nicki Schutz closing out the third quarter with four straight points. The 11-point run to open the final stanza ended up being the difference as Cape Breton never trailed again on the night. Stephanie Toxopeus came up big during the decisive sequence with five points. Rebounding was another key factor in the affair as the AUS champs ended the evening with a 54-32 advantage, including 36-21 at the defensive end of the floor. In a very even matchup both teams fought for every inch of the paint, while they both managed to put up 24 points each down low, while Cape Breton’s bench made the difference in the game as they chipped in 15 points compared to the five Toronto received from their extras. Despite committing 22 turnovers the Capers managed to capitalize on their opportunities and play sound enough defence to limit Toronto’s opportunities. The first quarter saw Nicki Schutz get into foul trouble early as she was limited to only three minutes of playing time. With Schutz out the Capers took full advantage as they dominated the paint scoring 10 points from the post en route to a 23-12 lead after the first quarter. After a high flying first quarter both teams increased the defensive intensity as Toronto put up a quarter high nine points while limiting the Capers to five points to close the gap to 28-21. A back and forth third frame saw the Capers pull away before the Varsity Blues charged back to tie the game at 38-38 at the end of the third. With just over three minutes left in the quarter Joanna Medri hit a clutch three pointer to bring Toronto within four points. After that Schutz took over for the Varsity Blues putting up eight points in her first full quarter. Toronto was able to capitalize on Cape Breton’s seven turnovers in the quarter to close draw the game to a tie headed to the final frame. The fourth quarter saw the Capers come out on fire, knocking down consecutive shots and racking up ten points in the first three minutes of the quarter. Despite a late charge by Toronto led by Schutz, the Blues were unable to overcome the late game deficit. Kari Everett was chosen player of the game. Everett paced Cape Breton with 20 on 8-18 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 10 boards and 2 assists. Jahlica Kirnon added 15 on 5-13 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 10 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals. Stephanie Toxopeus notched 10 on 4-6 from the floor, 2-3 from the line, 7 boards and 2 blocks. Denisha Haywood scored 6 on 3-10 from the floor and 14 boards. Kayla McCarron added 4, along with 2 boards, Tanira McClurkin 2, along with 2 assists and 3 steals, and Nicole Works 1, along with 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Katie McGarrigle was scoreless. The Capers hit 22-61 (.361) from the floor, 1-9 (.111) from the arc and 13-18 (.722) from the line, while garnering 54 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 9 steals, 4 blocks, 22 turnovers and 10 fouls. Nicki Schutz paced Toronto with 12 on 6-14 from the floor and 7 boards. Joanna Medri added 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc and 4 boards. Erin McNeely notched 8 on 4-17 from the floor, 2 boards and 3 assists. Alicia Van Kampen added 8 on 4-5 from the floor, 4 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Sherri Pierce added 8 on 2-11 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-5 from the line and 3 assists. Jill Stratton notched 3 on 1-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals. Megan Stoncius scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 4 boards, while Liane Bailey and Amanda Lauzon were scoreless. The Varsity Blues hit 21-68 (.309) from the floor, 2-7 (.286) from the arc and 5-7 (.714) from the line, while garnering 32 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 8 steals, 4 blocks, 13 turnovers and 18 fouls. Toronto (coached by Michele Belanger, assisted by Jim Henderson and Christine Cho) also included Erin McNeely, Julie Longauer, Kristina Menton, Rachael Sider, Jaine Taylor and Katelyn McConnell.
In the semis, the top-seeded Windsor Lancers dumped the 4th-seeded Cape Breton Capers 56-47. The Capers led 10-9 after one quarter and 24-22 at the half. Windsor led 37-35 after three quarters. “Before the game I told the girls to leave it all on the floor, that they worked hard all season to play in that national final at home,” said Windsor coach Chantal Vallée. “Cape Breton is a great team. We knew they’d match up well against us and they gave us all we could handle. It was a great game.” Capers coach Fabian McKenzie said “I thought we did a good job at quieting the crowd. We gave Windsor a great game, maybe even a little more than they expected. In the end, their experience probably made the difference. That and our poor free throw shooting.” Cape Breton held a 10-9 lead at the end of a first quarter that featured six lead changes, and subpar shooting. While the AUS champs improved in the second period making six of 12 shots from the floor, the OUA champs stayed cold, going 4-for-14. No points were scored in the first three minutes of the frame. The score at halftime was 24-22 Cape Breton with Windsor being shut out on six attempts from three-point land. Windsor opened a five-point gap early in the third stanza when a three-pointer by Bojana Kovacevic made it 31-26 but Cape Breton responded right away with a 5-0 run to tie it at 31 all. A bucket by Raelyn Prince with 55 seconds left in the quarter sent Windsor into the final frame leading 37-35. Kovacevic kicked off the fourth with another shot from beyond the arc and following a Clemençon layup, Windsor was suddenly ahead by seven, at 42-35. A pair of Morgan Jean free throws gave the Lancers their biggest advantage of the night, at 48-39, with four minutes remaining. In the final three minutes, Kayla McCarron brought the Capers back to within six on two occasions, at 50-44 and 52-46, but couldn’t get any closer. Jessica Clemencon paced Windsor with 18 on 7-18 from the floor, 4-4 from the line and 4 boards. Bojana Kovacevic added 13 on 5-11 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Miah-Marie Langlois added 13 on 5-12 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 6 boards. Raelyn Prince added 7 on 2-4 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 6 boards. Morgan Jean added 2, Korissa Williams 2, along with 11 boards and 3 steals, and Iva Peklova 1, along with 3 boards. Emily Abbott was scoreless, while garnering 3 boards and 2 steals. Jocelyn Larocque and Heather Angus were also scoreless. The Lancers his 20-54 (.370) from the floor, 2-10 from the arc and 14-22 (.636) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 10 steals, 1 block, 14 turnovers and 16 fouls.
Kayla
McCarron paced Cape Breton with 14 on 6-15 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc,
1-3 from the line and 7 boards. Nicole Works scored 10 on 4-9 from the floor,
2-5 from the arc and 2 assists. Jahlica Kirnon notched 7 on 3-16 from the
floor, 1-7 from the arc, 8 boards and 2 assists. Denisha Haywood added 6 on 3-6
from the floor, 0-4 from the line, 8 boards and 3 blocks. Stephanie Toxopeus
added 5 on 1-4 from the floor, 3-6 from the line and 8 boards. Kari Everett
scored 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists.
Tanira McClurkin added 2 on 1-5 from the floor, 2 boards and 2 assists. Katie
McGarrigle was scoreless. The Capers hit 19-60 (.317) from the floor, 4-17
(.235) from the arc and 5-16 (.312) from the line, while garnering 44 boards,
including 17 on the offensive glass, 11 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks, 16
turnovers and 19 fouls.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies dumped
the 6th-seeded St. Francis Xavier W-Women 58-40 after leading 15-6, 25-19 and 42-34
at the quarters. The Huskies jumped out to a commanding lead and never looked
back. Saskatchewan opened with a 13-0 run against StFX en route to a 15-6 lead
after the first quarter. The game was much closer than the final score indicates
however as the X-Women came back to within 34-30 with three minutes remaining
in the third period and were still trailing by only 46-38 three minutes into
the final stanza, but then saw the Huskies end the affair with a 12-2 run. “Our
defence was key tonight. We got contribution from a number of players, that’s
the way it’s been all year,” said CIS coach of the year Lisa Thomaidis. “We
didn’t start Jana (Spindler) because we wanted her to play against 23 (Ashley
Stephen) at all times.” Spindler, a fifth-year post from Port Williams, N.S.,
was named player of the match. The Huskies prevented the X-Women from scoring
until 7:20 into the quarter. With both teams playing a run and gun style, the
intensity increased in the second quarter as the X-Women attempted to close the
deficit. However, Huskies balanced offence led by Jill Humbert who had eight
points in the half, maintained a six-point lead highlighted by eight steals,
five of them by CIS defensive player of the year Katie Miyazaki. The X-Women
finally found their range in the second quarter. Stephen, the AUS defensive
player of the year, caught fire going 3-4 from field goal range with eight points,
four rebounds and two steals in the half to edge St. Francis Xavier closer. The
X-Women opened up the third quarter by closing the gap to four points but that
would be as close as they would get. The Huskies offence continued to find ways
to get inside as Spindler utilized her size and put up six points and grabbed
three rebounds. In the fourth quarter, the Huskies showed great ball movement
as they spread the X-Women’s defence in an attempt to increase the spread. But
the veteran Huskies squad depth and experience paid off down the stretch. Miyazaki
ran an almost flawless game at the point in a team-high 39 minutes. “I think it’s
good for us to play these tight games,” Miyazaki said. “It’s important to know
we can grind it out and hit the big shots when we need to.” Saskatchewan finally
pulled away for good in a 16-6 fourth quarter where the Huskies CIS experience
was clearly the difference. “Our defence won us this game,” said Miyazaki. “It
was there all night.” Jana Spindler paced Saskatchewan with 18 on 7-12 from the
floor, 4-5 from the line, 8 boards and 2 assists. Jill Humbert scored 14 on
5-13 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 3-4 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists
and 3 steals. Marci Kiselyk added 10 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 3-4
from the line, 5 boards and 2 blocks. Kim Tulloch added 9 on 3-7 from the
floor, 2-3 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 4 boards and 2 assists. Katie
Miyazaki notched 6 on 2-10 from the floor, 2-6 from the line, 8 boards, 5
assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks. Trisha Carriere added 1, while Kabree Howard,
Mary Hipperson, Amy Lackie, and Lauren Whyte were scoreless. The Huskies hit
20-52 (.385) from the floor, 4-11 (.364) from the arc and 14-22 (.636) from the
line, while garnering 42 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 12
assists, 11 steals, 5 blocks, 20 turnovers and 15 fouls. Ashley Stephen paced
St. FX with 10 on 3-8 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 5
boards and 2 steals. Sheryl Chisholm added 10 on 3-12 from the floor, 3-5 from
the arc, 1-4 from the line and 3 boards. Kirsten Jones notched 10 on 4-15 from
the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 8 boards, 2 steals and 3
blocks. Donisha Young added 4 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-2 from the line and 7
boards. Camesha McKenzie added 4 on 2-4 from the floor, 3 boards and 2 assists.
Victoria Anderson added 2 on 1-5 from the floor and 3 boards, while Spencer
Lockhart, Rebecca Sheehan and Jocelyn Moore were scoreless. The X-Women hit
15-55 (.273) from the floor, 3-18 (.167) from the arc and 7-15 (.467) from the
line, while garnering 39 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 10
assists, 8 steals, 3 blocks, 18 turnovers and 24 fouls.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Cape Breton Capers dusted the 6th-seeded St. Francis Xavier X-Women 67-53. The score was knotted at 18 after one quarter. St. FX led 33-31 at the half. Cape Breton led 49-46 after three quarters. The Capers used an 18-7 fourth quarter to pull out the win and earn the second-best result in Cape Breton history, after a silver medal performance in 2006. The fourth-place finish was St. FX’s best ever. “It’s not the right bronze but we’ll take it,” said 12-year Cape Breton coach Fabian McKenzie. “We came here with a goal to win the Bronze Baby but to finish third in the country feels pretty good. It says a lot about our program. It was nice to see two AUS teams reach the Final Four. It speaks volume for our conference.” The Capers 6-2 forward, Denisha Haywood of Baltimore, Maryland, earned game-MVP honours. The first half could not have been closer as the lead changed hands nine times, including seven in the lone first quarter. The battle resumed in the third stanza as the AUS rivals were tied at 33-33, 37-37 and 41-41 before a Nicole Works jumper gave Cape Breton a 49-46 edge after 30 minutes. The Capers dominated the first half of the final quarter. The AUS champs outscored St. FX by 12-2 in the first six minutes of the period to build a comfortable 61-48 cushion, and never looked back. The Capers defensive adjustments at the half swung the momentum in their favour creating 24 turnovers that they were able to score 17 points from. The second half saw the Capers tighten up on the defensive side of the ball, pressuring the ball carrier with the double team causing the X-Women to turn the ball over to overcome the deficit. Jahlica Kirnon paced Cape Breton with 21 on 9-18 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 7 boards, 2 steals and 4 blocks. Denisha Haywood added 10 on 5-8 from the floor, 0-2 from the line, 10 boards and 6 blocks. Kari Everett notched 9 on 2-13 from the floor, 5-6 from the line, 6 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Nicole Works scored 8 on 2-4 from the floor, 4-6 from the line, 3 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Kayla McCarron notched 7 on 3-7 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 3 boards. Katie McGarrigle added 5 and Stephanie Toxopeus 5 on 1-4 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 6 boards. Tanira McClurkin scored 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 6 assists and 4 steals. Luciann Lahey was scoreless. The Capers hit 25-60 (.417) from the floor, 2-5 (.400) from the arc and 15-21 (.714) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 13 steals, 10 blocks, 21 turnovers and 11 fouls. Kirsten Jones paced St. FX with 17 on 6-15 from the floor, 5-6 from the line, 7 boards and 3 blocks. Ashley Stephen added 12 on 5-11 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 steals. Rebecca Sheehan added 7 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 2 boards. Sheryl Chisholm scored 7 on 2-11 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Camesha McKenzie scored 3 on 3-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Jocelyn Moore added 3, Spencer Lockhart 2, along with 3 boards, and Donisha Young 2, along with 4 boards and 3 assists. Victoria Anderson and Kiley DeLong were scoreless. Anderson was 0-8 from the floor, while nabbing 5 boards and dishing 3 assists. The X-Women hit 19-64 (.297) from the floor, 4-17 (.235) from the arc and 11-14 (.786) from the line, while garnering 36 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 13 assists, 8 steals, 5 blocks, 24 turnovers and 21 fouls. St FX’s Ashley Stephen received the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award. The X-Women (coached by Matt Skinn, assisted by Nathan Johnson and Gary Gray) also included Anna Dahl, Alison MacPherson and Katarina Kolarova.
In the final, the top-seeded Windsor Lancers ended the Canada West conference’s string of 19 consecutive CIS crowns by dumping the 2nd-seeded Saskatchewan Huskies 63-49 to capture their first Bronze Baby. It also marked the first time in the 40-year history of the tournament that a team got to hoist the Bronze Baby on home court. “As much as it hurt last year to lose in the final, I’m so glad we won this first national title in front of our fans,” said coach Chantal Vallée, in her sixth season at the helm in Windsor. “Their support is phenomenal. We’ll cherish this win in our own building forever. “In sport, the highs are very high and the lows are very low. After we lost the final last year, we were devastated, but we immediately set a goal of returning to the final this year and this time, get the job done. And we did it.” Trailing 16-6 eight minutes into the contest, the Lancers scored the next 15 points – and 22 of the next 24 – and outscored their opponents 57-33 the rest of the way. Saskatchewan coach Lisa Thomaidis said “credit to Windsor. They’re a great team. “We’re extremely proud of our girls. I thought we played hard. We executed our game plan on defence but couldn’t convert on the offensive end.” Jessica Clemencon, a native of France, was chosen game MVP to cap off a season in which she was named CIS player of the year. Point guard Miah-Marie Langlois was chosen MVP of the tournament. Saskatchewan led 16-11 after the first quarter thanks in large part to Jill Humbert and Kim Tulloch. The Huskies used a 9-0 run to open a 16-6 gap by the eighth minute, blanking their rivals for over four minutes in the process. Far from panicking, Windsor turned the 10-point deficit into a 10-point advantage in a span of six minutes. The Lancers scored the next 15 points – and 22 of the next 24 – to go up 28-18 four minutes into the second stanza. Windsor led by as much as 13, at 34-21, following a Clemençon layup with 4:03 left in the half. At the break, the scoreboard read 34-21 Lancers. The streaky affair resumed after the break with Saskatchewan opening the third stanza with an 8-0 run and holding Windsor scoreless for over four minutes to cut the deficit to 34-33. Miyazaki tied it at 35 all at the five-minute mark but the Huskies wouldn’t score again in the period. Bojana Kovacevic kicked off a 9-0 Windsor run with a long three and the Lancers were up 44-35 heading into the fourth. Saskatchewan came back to within six points in the first minute of the final frame, but it was all Windsor from there as the new champs went up by as much as 16. Windsor ended the season with a spectacular 33-2 overall record versus CIS competition. Bojana Kovacevic said “I have no words right now. It feels amazing.” Langlois noted “this is just the beginning. Chantal said I would win (a national title) so it was kind of part of my expectations because I came to a great team. Now, we know what it takes and we have the experience, we just have to keep the hunger.” Vallee said “we’re going to do it again. This is one of those things where it’s fun to savour the moment.” Huskies coach Lisa Thomaidis said depth proved the difference. “We normally use 10 but we went with seven for the last few games because we had to stick with the more experienced kids.” Wearing down an opponent is a familiar plan for Windsor. “With our recruiting we are very deep,” Vallee said. “It’s not easy to manage people to understand their roles. The players who didn’t play today have the same (training) demands on them. We truly are a team.” Korissa Williams noted “I’m on top of a mountain looking down.” Team captain Emily Abbott spotted former teammate and captain Shauvon Reaney of last season’s silver medalists in the crowd. “In that last moment, I just looked over at Shauvon Reaney and she had tears in her eyes.” Fifth year forward Raelyn Prince said Vallee “told me she was going to bring a national championship to Windsor” during the first conversation years earlier. “I believed her and she did it. It’s unbelievable.” It didn’t look as if that guarantee would pay dividends during Prince’s freshman season. “My first year, we only won six games,” Harrow’s Prince said. “It was kind of a boot camp, but it was what needed to be done to get to today.” Peklova, from the Czech Republic, and Abbott, from Calgary, came aboard the next season, as things slowly began to fit into place. “I’m getting all these flashbacks of the things we had to do,” Abbott said. “That’s why I’m getting so emotional.” They thought about running endless laps. The heartbreak of coming so close, yet seeming so far away. And about players like Reaney, who helped engineer this outcome, but didn’t get to be on the floor to share in the moment. “They were part of the growth of this program,” Peklova said. Abbott said “this is the only goal, the end point that we want. This is why we play basketball. It’s fabulous. I love it.” Peklova said “I cried for all the hard work, for all the countless hours, the emotions, life lessons I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go through. It was a great life experience. We were waiting for this moment for so long. This is like the cherry on top of the cake.” Abbott said “it took one coach who took a different view on things. Who knew she could change a town and change a program. We bought into what Chantal had to say, her passion, her spirit of turning things around. It’s such a beautiful moment.” Thomaidis said “their bigs certainly gave us all we could handle. Clemencon showed why she was the (CIS) MVP. … The number of things this team has accomplished each year and the number of records that have broken, individually and collectively, and to get the best-ever finish is nothing to be ashamed of. It was a great battle for most of the game. It wasn’t until the end that they pulled away. You can’t judge the whole season on this one loss tonight.” Jill Humbert noted that “they made a lot of blocked shots and some of them, we felt, weren’t so clean, but, at the same time, they definitely gave us some trouble with their size, for sure. We just couldn’t hit our shots and they did. When we kind of pulled up close, they just extended their lead. They were on their home court, which definitely gave them an advantage.” Jana Spindler said that “we just had the shots that normally fall just weren’t falling today. They hit some big shots at key times and they were able to pull away.” Marci Kiselyk said that the Huskies struggled with their shooting all tournament. “We came here and, all of a sudden, we’re scoring 30-less points every game and our defence is keeping us in it. We really couldn’t hit shots that we had to hit and usually do hit. In stretches, our defence was really good, but what it came down to is they hit shots and we didn’t. They have a very talented team. Their player-of-the year, a post player, is really good at what she does. For stretches of the game, we did a really good job of shutting her down. When we shut her down, they were able to go to some perimeter shooters with guards penetrating. They’re not a one-dimensional team by any means.” Thomaidis also said that “we executed our defensive game plan — honestly, our defence was pretty darn good. There were a number of times we had them at the end of shot clock and they managed to make a basket. We battled so hard against a very good team. Usually, (limiting a team to 63 points) is enough for us to win a game. Credit to them. They hit some big threes at critical times that got them ahead and hurt the momentum that we had generated.” Jessica Clemencon paced Windsor with 18 on 6-11 from the floor, 6-8 from the line, 3 boards, 3 assists and 7 blocks. Bojana Kovacevic added 14 on 5-13 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 9 boards and 3 assists. Korissa Williams notched 11 on 5-7 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 10 boards, 3 assists and 4 steals. Miah-Marie Langlois added 10 on 4-10 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 assists and 2 steals. Raelyn Prince added 6 on 3-5 from the floor and 3 boards. Emily Abbott scored 2 and Heather Angus 2 on 2-4 from the line, 5 boards and 4 assists. Iva Peklova, Jocelyn Larocque and Morgan Jean were scoreless. The Lancers hit 24-56 (.429) from the floor, 6-15 (.400) from the arc and 9-14 (.643) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 9 steals, 8 blocks, 18 turnovers and 14 fouls. Jill Humbert paced Saskatchewan with 15 on 5-15 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc, 3-8 from the line, 4 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. Katie Miyazaki added 13 on 6-14 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-3 from the line, 9 boards, 2 assists and 5 steals. Kim Tulloch notched 12 on 3-16 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 6-8 from the line and 3 boards. Jana Spindler added 7 on 3-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 10 boards and 2 steals. Marci Kiselyk scored 2 on 1-7 from the floor, 5 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Mary Hipperson and Trisha Carriere were scoreless. The Huskies hit 18-60 (.300) from the floor, 2-18 (.111) from the arc and 11-20 (.550) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass, 8 assists, 13 steals, 3 blocks, 14 turnovers and 17 fouls.
Joining Langlois on the all-tournament team were Bojana Kovacevic (Windsor); Jana Spindler (Saskatchewan); Katie Miyazaki (Saskatchewan) and Kari Everett (Cape Breton).
The bronze medalist Cape Breton Capers: Kari Everett; Jahlica Kirnon; Nicole Works; Tanira McClurkin; Denisha Haywood; Kayla McCarron; Stephanie Toxopeus; Katie McGarrigle; Luciann Lahey; Kira Pederson; Che Kara Beals; Justine MacNeil; Melissa Sherwood; coach Fabian McKenzie; assistant Doug Connors; assistant Len Harvey; athletic director John Ryan
The silver medalist Saskatchewan Huskies: Katie Miyazaki; Jill Humbert; Marci Kiselyk; Jana Spindler; Kim Tulloch; Mary Hipperson; Trisha Carriere; Kabree Howard; Alexandra Swidzinski; Haley Williams; Jordyn Halvorson; Riley Humbert; Erica Gavel; coach Lisa Thomaidis; assistant Jacqueline Lavallee; assistant Ali Fairbrother; trainer Jennifer Mawson; student trainer Laryssa Lemke; SID Nicole Betker; athletic director Basil Hughton
The champion Windsor Lancers: Jessica Clemencon; Miah-Marie Langlois; Bojana Kovacevic; Raelyn Prince; Korissa Williams; Emily Abbott; Iva Peklova; Heather Angus; Morgan Jean; Jocelyn LaRocque; Samantha Hislop; Amber Irvine; Jessica Gordon; Laura Mullins; Courtney Sinclair; Kristy Chute; coach Chantal Vallee; assistant Tom Foster; assistant Josh Leeman; assistant Lucas Reiner; recruiting coordinator Andy Pilkington; strength and conditioning coach Frank Jeney; manager Samantha Hislop therapist Kathy Harvie; student therapist Safia Abbadi, SID Elisa Mitton; athletic director Gord Grace