REGULAR SEASON
| Regina | 20-2 | 24-5 | Christine Stapleton | ||
| Manitoba | 17-5 | 24-5 | Coleen Dufresne | ||
| Winnipeg | 14-8 | 26-8 | Tanya McKay | ||
| Brandon | 4-18 | 8-23 | Don Thomson |
In the semis, Manitoba defeated Winnipeg 65-69; 76-65; 63-61 (2g-1). The Wesmen (coached by Tanya McKay) included Andu Tseghereda, Sally Kaznica, Angela Willerton, JoAnne Wells, Sara Henneberry, Erin Soroko, Diane Zunic, Heather Thompson, Brooke Bender, Pamela Nowell, Roslynn Fast, Crystal Kirby-Peloguin and Lee Wedlake.
In the other semi, Regina defeated Brandon 92-51; 80-32 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Regina thrashed Brandon 92-51. Rumali Werapitiya scored just five points in 12 minutes of playing time but provided the offensive spark the Cougars needed as she came off the bench. Brandon led 24-22 when Werapitiya grabbed an offensive rebound, hit a layup and was fouled at the 10:29 mark of the first half. When she sank the ensuing free throw, the Cougars led 25-24 — and they never trailed again. “When (Cougars head coach Christine Stapleton) sent us in there, she told us to rebound,” said Werapitiya. “She told us to crash the glass, so that’s what we all tried to do. Our team is big on intensity and feeding off one another. If I can provide that and get people going when I come off the bench, that’s what I’ll do.” Stapleton said “I was very pleased with the minutes we got from everybody. A fine example is Rum and Crystal (Heisler) being the player-of-the-game for us coming off the bench.” Heisler had 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in 15 minutes of action. Corrin Wersta and Cymone Bouchard each scored 17 points for Regina, which recorded 16 steals. Patty Wood scored 12 points to lead the Bobcats, who got nine points from Heather Couzens. The Bobcats struggled early with Regina’s half-court trap and full-court pressure — turnovers helped the Cougars open up a 16-9 lead after just five minutes — but the visitors rallied to take a 22-18 lead. But Heisler said “we still felt in control of the game. We felt it was what we were doing that could change the outcome of the game.” Right after Werapitiya’s three-point play, the Cougars exploded for a 19-4 run which gave them a 41-28 lead before a late Brandon rally cut the advantage to 42-34 at halftime. Regina opened the second half with a 10-1 run and romped. “That 18-0 run to start the second half did it,” joked Brandon coach Don Thomson. “They stepped up defensively and we didn’t. We didn’t rise to the challenge defensively and we didn’t execute in the offensive end, either. Full credit to them. They showed why they’re the Number 1 team in the country. If we’re going to play with them, we just have to execute. We have to be better to play with the best teams.” …………………………………………………… In game two, Regina stomped Brandon 80-32 with a stifling defence. The Cougars had 22 steals and forced 44 Brandon turnovers. “That was exactly what we challenged them to do,” Regina coach Christine Stapleton said. “They played very well in the second half (Friday) night and we challenged them to take it even further (Saturday). You can’t take any backwards steps at this time of year.” Cymone Bouchard had 14 points for the Cougars, who got 13 from Heather Dedman. Patty Wood had seven points to lead the Bobcats, who shot just 18.8 per cent from the floor in the second half. The Bobcats (coached by Don Thomson) also included Heather Couzens, Margot Jestadt, Christy Oleskiw, Ambur Hamilton, Melissa Moore, Kim Bosnick, Michelle Smith, Carlie Paxton, Jody Jury and Amy Tegg.
In the finals, Regina defeated Manitoba 88-60, 61-60 (2g-0).
In game one, Regina prevailed 88-60 by taking command in the second half. “This gets us to where we want to be,” said Cougars coach Christine Stapleton, whose club led by 41-37 at the half. “The first game is pivotal in a best-of-three series. It’s not like a seven-game series, where you have a lot of time to come back. Bisons coach Coleen Dufresne said “I’m embarrassed by that and I hope they’re embarrassed by that, too. They’d better dig in and see if that’s the way they want to go out. (The Cougars) didn’t do a thing we weren’t prepared for. They just executed well and we let them execute. If you do that, you’re going to be in trouble.” The Bisons rallied from an early 11-4 deficit to take an 18-15 lead and, when the Cougars came back to go up 33-26, Manitoba fought back to trail by only four at the break. But it took the Cougars just six minutes of the second half to seize control of the game. Tough defence and timely offensive rebounding helped Regina build a 54-43 lead and the rout was on. “It showed great character from our perspective,” said Cougars guard Bree Burgess. “At the half, it was close. We expected them to make a run in the second half, but we didn’t allow it. Then, when we put our subs in, there was no difference. There was no change in momentum when we put the bench in.” Cymone Bouchard led the Cougars with 22 points, the majority of which came on slicing drives through the Bisons defence. She added nine rebounds, two steals and an assist in 23 minutes of play. Corrin Wersta had 15 points and seven rebounds for Regina, which got 13 points from Burgess. “Our defence was embarrassing,” Dufresne said. “They beat us on the dribble penetration. We didn’t handle their screen at all. They out-rebounded us big-time in the second half. We just didn’t do anything defensively.” Marjorie Kelly scored 15 points for the Bisons, who shot just 39 per cent from the floor. Manitoba also was hampered by a poor outing from sharpshooter Anne Smith, who was just 1-for-6 from the floor. She finished with four points — all in the first half — and didn’t appear overly anxious to shoot the ball. Smith’s woes were caused in part by the defence of Burgess and Bouchard, who took turns hounding the Bisons’ fifth-year star at every turn. “You’ve got to D her up before she gets the ball,” Bouchard said. “You’ve got to deny her the ball and hit her when she comes through the key to tire her out. She plays a lot of minutes, so you’ve got to try to tire her out. Basically you have to do your workload before she gets the ball. Once she gets it, it’s one-on-one — and she’s dangerous one-on- one.” Stapleton added that “you have to keep in front of her and make her take tough shots. You have to make everything about her game difficult — her looks (at the basket), her shots, her passes, everything.”
In game two, Regina nipped Manitoba 61-60 to capture their third consecutive conference title. Heather Dedman banked an off-balance leaner between two defenders with 0.8 seconds to play to give the Cougars the win. “Bree (Burgess) bugs me about that shot,” Dedman said. “She says she used to think it was a fluke. Now she thinks it’s patented. It’s something I’ve done since high school. I was a post player in high school. But I was small for the position, so I always had to work around people to get a shot off.” Post Phoebe De Ciman said that “when I saw Heather had the ball, I knew she was going to take that shot. Every day at practice and in games, she’s always taking off-balance shots. She has no fear. She’ll go into five people to get that shot off.” Dedman’s heroics came just after Anne Smith completed a three- point play to give the Bisons a 60-59 lead with 7.4 seconds left. Burgess took the inbounds pass and got it to Dedman, who squeezed between two defenders and launched the game-winning shot. “If the ball’s in her hands, she’s going to do something with it,” said Regina post Becky Poley. “She always makes good decisions. With seven seconds left in a game, you want the ball in a decision-maker’s hands. It was nice to have it in Heather’s hands.” Dedman said “it’s a good situation to be in when it goes in. I was happy to put myself in that position. If it goes, it goes and that’s great. If it doesn’t, that’s too bad.” Both squads shot poorly in the first half. The Bisons hit 2-17 but still outshot the Cougars 31 per cent to 23 per cent in the half and led 27-22 at the break. But Dedman started the Cougars’ second-half comeback, hitting a three-point shot on their first possession and scoring 10 of their first 14 points in the half. Her layup three minutes in gave the Cougars their first lead since they were up 4-2 early in the first half. “She was clutch for us to start the second half,” said Cougars coach Christine Stapleton. “Her energy really picked the team up in the second half.” The lead went back and forth before the Bisons went on an 8-0 run to take a 52-45 lead. But the Cougars chipped away and a personal six-point scoring streak by De Ciman gave Regina a 57-56 edge with 1:30 left. After Cymone Bouchard scored to put the Cougars up by three, Smith hit a free throw with 44 seconds remaining to make it a two- point game and then completed her three-point play with 7.4 seconds left. The Cougars expected the Bisons to come out with half-court pressure after that, but Manitoba backed off — and Dedman went to work. “Yeah, I wish she hadn’t got the ball,” Bisons head coach Coleen Dufresne. “They passed it over our defensive player’s head and then we were chasing.” Dedman, Poley and De Ciman had 12 points apiece for the Cougars. Anne Smith scored 20 to lead Manitoba.
After the season, Brandon hires Tami Pennell (assistant coach with Memorial) as their new head coach. The Trepassey, NFLD native jointed the Memorial coaching staff after playing five years with the Seahawks.
Pam Danis is hired as head coach of Manitoba, replacing Coleen Dufresne, who becomes athletic director at Manitoba. Danis was the starting point guard with the university of Winnipeg from 1992-95, during which the Wesmenettes won 88 games in a row.
After the season, the league folded and rejoined Canada West.
The runner-up Manitoba Bisons: Anne Smith; Cheryl Jean-Paul; Melissa Stoesz; Lara Asplin; Marjorie Kelly; Dana Friesen; Christina Blouw; Michelle Edwards; Lynda Guy; Anna Drewniak; Diana Gray; Julie Lafreniere; Tamara Antic; coach Coleen Dufresne
The champion Regina Cougars: Bree Burgess; Becky Poley; Phoebe De Ciman; Cymone Bouchard; Heather Dedman; Corrin Wersta; Rumali Werpitiya; Jana Schweitzer; Leah Anderson; Crystal Heisler; Tara-Lee Crosson; Sheena Aiken; Tenille Kirkland; Kaila McKaig; Rhiannon Brown; coach Christine Stapleton; assistant Diane Hilko; assistant Dave Taylor; trainer Kate Sefan; trainer Erin Walton