REGULAR SEASON
| Concordia | 8-1 | Mike Hickey | |||
| McGill | 6-3 | 22-14 | Hubert Lacroix | ||
| Bishop’s | 3-6 | Andrea Blackwell | |||
| Laval | 1-8 | Bob Descheneaux | |||
In the regular season, Concordia finishes atop the standings with a (9-1) record.
Laval: Catherine Raymond, Natalie
Veilleux, Marie Samson, Marlene Levesque, Julie Dessureault, Sylvie Demers,
Elizabeth Racine, Kathy Norman, Carole Dejoie, Lise Vaillancourt, coach Robert
Descheneaux, assistant Maxine Gilbert
In the semis, McGill edged
Bishop’s 61-58 despite trialing for most of the affair. They took the lead with
34 seconds to play on a pair of free throws by Annette-Margaret Kiss and then
added an insurance marker on a technical called against Bishop’s Wendy Waters
for complaining about the call. Helene Cowan led McGill with 30 points and 10
boards.
In the final, Concordia defeated McGill 58-46. In a tight defensive affair, neither team scored for four minutes before the Martlets hit a pair of buckets. Concordia rallied to an 11-10 lead after one quarter and were ahead 28-20 at the half, having held the league’s leading scorer, Helene Cowan, to a single bucket. Bonnie McNaughton, who scored 14, rallied McGill in the second half by hitting a turnaround jumper to cut the margin to 44-42. But Jane Bullock, who scored 26, hit a perimeter bomb. Cowan countered with an off-balance shot before Bullock hit three consecutive buckets to pull out the win for the Stingers. “It was our defence that won us the game,” Stingers coach Mike Hickey told the Montreal Gazette. “And when our defence plays well, so does our offence.” Concordia hit 20-22 from the line.
After the season, Concordia coach Mike Hickey bolted the Stingers to assume the helm of the Ryerson Rams. The three-time QUAA coach of the year, accepted a one-year contract for a “substantial” increase in salary, the Montreal Gazette reported. The 36-year-old native of Hempstead, N.Y, had a record of 235-162 since beginning his coaching career with the Sir George Williams Georgians in 1973. He formerly played with the Georgians. He coached the Georgians to a 56-18 mark, including back-to-back trips the Canadian championship. When Sir George Williams and cross-town rival Loyola College merged to form Concordia in 1975, Hickey took over as head coach of the women’s team and led them to six national championships. An assistant for the women’s national team, Hickey said “it was a hard decision to make, to leave after having been here so long and having done so much. But I’m going to Toronto for what Ryerson has to offer me now and down the road. I looked at myself staying at Concordia and realized I wasn’t about to get ahead very much in the next few years. It hurts to leave. I’m leaving what I know is a great program (in women’s basketball) and a team I know has the nucleus to do great things in the future, especially if they (Concordia officials) decide to keep Linda MacPherson and Sue Hylland, my assistants, on as coaches. It’s what I’ve recommended. But a lot of things convinced me it was the right thing to do now. Firstly, my family (wife Judith and sons Christopher and Matthew) has made a helluva lot of sacrifices for me. There have been times when they’ve suffered. This move benefits the family.” Hickey’s departure comes with the Concordia intercollegiate athletic department in turmoil in the wake of much controversy related to the men’s basketball team having been placed on probation for one year last December for having paid players in student-work programs for work never performed, the Gazette stated. “A lot of people have said I’m doing myself a great favor to get out (of Concordia) in case things get worse,” Hickey said. “When I told people in the department I was leaving, they weren’t sad but glad for me. It was as if I was getting let out of prison.”
The bronze medalist Bishop’s Gaiters: Wendy Waters; Joanne Gordon; Michele O’Keefe; Kelly Tucker; Judy Lang; Joanie Patola; Heather Sams; Linda Schamer; Heather Sams; Karen Baker, Nancy McRea, coach Andrea Blackwell; assistant David Jardin
The runner-up McGill Martlets: Bonnie McNaughton; Helene Cowan; Nancy Avery; Carolin Michele Doody; Theresa Worton; Alexandra Franco; Paula Boggild; Mireille Beland; Donna Nicholls; Nat Melillo; Martha Louise Glisky; Annette Kiss; coach Hubert Lacroix; assistant Linda Schaapman; athletic director Robert Dubeau; SID Laura Lisiak
The champion Concordia Stingers: Jane Bullock; Denise Dignard; Wanda Colley; Tracy Billard; Monique Francoeur; Lisen Moore; Laurie Slater; Jill Southgate; Sylvia Cesaratto; Megan Nowlin; Kim Reeve; Yvonne Szuman; Debbie Grannum; Semka? Kosmic?; coach Mike Hickey; assistant Sue Hylland; assistant Linda MacPherson; therapist Dominique Lopez; athletic director Dr. Edmund Enos; SID Bob Philip