PREVIEW 2011 CIS women’s basketball championship: Lancers, Huskies lead wide-open field

OTTAWA (CIS) – The tournament host Windsor Lancers and the Saskatchewan Huskies are considered favourites for this week’s CIS women’s basketball Final 8, which marks the 40th anniversary of the national championship and features one of the most intriguing fields in recent years.  

Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wbkb

The final leg of the expanded 2011 championship gets underway Friday at the University of Windsor’s St. Denis Centre with the quarter-final round and culminates on Sunday with the gold medal final, live on TSN at 4:30 p.m.

SSN Canada will have live webcasts of all games except the title match, while TVCogeco will televise six contests locally including the first three quarter-finals, both semis and the bronze medal match.

Coming off their third straight OUA title, the Lancers earned No. 1 status for the tourney, while the Canada West champion Huskies were ranked No. 2.

Also competing for the Bronze Baby Trophy will be No. 3 Carleton Ravens (at-large berth), No. 4 Cape Breton Capers (AUS champions), No. 5 Toronto Varsity Blues (East Regional winners), No. 6 St. Francis Xavier X-Women (Central Regional winners), No. 7 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (West Regional winners), and No. 8 Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ champions).

Friday’s quarter-final matchups will see Carleton face StFX at 1 p.m., Saskatchewan battle Laurier at 3 p.m., Windsor take on Laval at 6 p.m., and Cape Breton square off against Toronto at 8 p.m. 

New national champions will be crowned on Sunday as the Simon Fraser Clan, winners of the last two Bronze Baby Trophies and five of the last nine banners, played their final CIS season in 2009-10 and now compete in the NCAA. The Bronze Baby has spent the last nine off-seasons in British Columbia following triumphs by SFU (5), UBC (3) and Victoria (1).

In fact, all teams competing in Windsor this week will be looking for their first-ever CIS title, with the exception of Toronto, which claimed its lone banner back in 1986.

No. 1 Windsor hopes to make CIS women’s basketball history by becoming the first team to triumph on home court. Surprisingly, the feat has never been accomplished in the first 39 presentations of the event.

The Lancers also hope to put an end to the 19-year stranglehold on the Bronze Baby Trophy by teams currently competing in Canada West (including former Great Plains conference schools). The OUA champs came close last spring in Hamilton when they reached their first-ever national final before dropping a 77-56 decision to Simon Fraser.   

The last team from outside Western Canada to hoist the Bronze Baby was Laurentian, which captured back-to-back banners in 1990 and 1991.

Led by OUA MVP Jessica Clemençon, Windsor is enjoying a spectacular season and enters the Final 8 sporting a stellar 32-2 overall record versus CIS competition. The Lancers’ two losses to CIS opponents occurred at home against Toronto on Nov. 12, a 66-61 setback in their third game of the regular season, and on the road against Western on Jan. 5, a 57-54 defeat in their first conference matchup coming back from the December break.

Clemençon, a 6-foot-3 forward from France who was named CIS rookie of the year in 2009-10, is a candidate for CIS MVP honours this season after finishing first in Ontario and third in the country in scoring (19.0 ppg) and sixth in the OUA in rebounding (8.2 rpg).

“It would definitely be very special to win our program’s first national championship at home,” says head coach Chantal Vallée, in her sixth season at the helm in Windsor. “We would love to share it with our fans and community who have showed unconditional support over the last few years. It would make the championship that much more special. It’s the best gift I could ask for, to win it in front of them.”

No. 2 Saskatchewan is also enjoying a remarkable campaign and heads to the Final 8 with a 32-3 overall mark against CIS rivals. Canada West MVP Kim Tulloch, a fifth-year guard from Regina, led the way in conference play with 16.9 points per game, tops out West and good for seventh in CIS.

As they vie to extend the Canada West streak of consecutive Bronze Baby triumphs to an even 20, the Huskies find themselves in a very different situation than in recent years. Saskatchewan will be the only CWUAA representatives in Windsor, marking the first time since 1997 there will be less than three Western teams at the CIS tournament.

“We’re really happy and excited to be representing Canada West on the national stage,” says 13-year Saskatchewan head coach Lisa Thomaidis, who led her team to a third-place finish and a first-ever CIS podium a year ago. “It is certainly a far different feel from previous years, where we had at least two other teams from our conference there with us and had a better feel for the competition. There are a lot of new faces at the tournament, so we need to do a lot of work to get up to speed with the style of play that we’re going to be facing.”

“With the new Regional format, we are definitely seeing one of the most competitive fields at a national tournament. Everyone here is playing great basketball and is coming in off the high of having to win to get in.”

No. 3 Carleton will be making its first-ever Final 8 appearance after receiving the at-large berth. Following a solid 18-4 regular season, the Ravens pushed Windsor to the limit in the OUA title match at St. Denis Centre before dropping a two-point decision (46-44), and then hosted the Central Regional tournament where they lost 64-59 to StFX in the final.

No. 4 Cape Breton captured its third straight AUS championship thanks to a 65-50 gold medal win over UNB. The Capers, who finished fifth at last year’s Nationals, also topped the AUS in conference play with a 16-4 mark.

No. 5 Toronto returns to the Final 8 for the first time since a seventh-place finish in 2008 thanks to a 65-57 victory over Western in the final of the East Regional in Fredericton. On Friday against Cape Breton, the Varsity Blues will be looking for their first CIS quarter-final win since 1997, when they downed Lakehead 73-59 en route to finishing fourth.

Thanks to its upset win over Carleton in the final of the Central Regional, No. 6 StFX advanced to the Final 8 for only the second time in team history. In their lone previous appearance, in 1997, the X-Women went 0-2 against Manitoba (109-88) and Victoria (97-61).

No. 7 Laurier shocked the tournament host and nationally third-ranked Regina Cougars 82-67 to win the Western Regional. The Hawks went 0-2 in each of their only two previous Final 8 appearances, in 2003 and 2004.

While No. 8 Laval is a regular at the CIS championship, it certainly didn’t look like the Rouge et Or would make the trip this time around when they finished the regular season in fourth place in Quebec with a sub-par 5-11 record. The perennial contenders from Quebec City rebounded in the playoffs however upsetting top-seeded McGill and UQAM to claim their seventh straight RSEQ title.

The Rouge et Or, sixth at last year’s CIS tournament, scored a 62-51 pre-season victory over second-ranked Saskatchewan back on Oct. 17 in Toronto.

 
No. 1 Windsor Lancers
Media Guide (PDF 2.60 MB) 
Head Coach: Chantal Vallée (6th season)
Regular season record: 20-2
Regular season standing: 1st OUA West (1st overall OUA)
Playoff record: 3-0
Playoff finish: OUA champions
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 32-2
Overall record vs. Final 8 teams:  5-1 (2-0 vs. Carleton, 0-1 vs. Toronto, 3-0 vs. Laurier)
Final Top 10 ranking (March 1): No. 2
Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 1 (5 weeks / No. 2 each of 9 other polls)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 14
Conference award winners (OUA West): Jessica Clemençon (MVP)
Conference 1st team all-stars (OUA West): Jessica Clemençon (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars (OUA West): Miah-Marie Langlois (G)
Conference all-rookie team: Korissa Williams (G)
Season leader (points per game): Jessica Clemençon (19.0)
Season leader (rebounds per game): Jessica Clemençon (8.2)
Season leader (assists per game): Miah-Marie Langlois (3.5)
CIS championship appearances (including 2011): 3rd
CIS championship all-time record: 3-3 (.500)
CIS championship best result: Finalists (2010)
CIS championship last appearance: 2010 (Finalists)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd straight appearance (3rd in history)
 
No. 2 Saskatchewan Huskies
Media Guide (PDF 8.96 MB) 
Head Coach: Lisa Thomaidis (13th season)
Regular season record: 22-2
Regular season standing: 1st Canada West
Playoff record: 4-0
Playoff finish: Canada West champions
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 32-3
Overall record vs. Final 8 teams:  1-1 (1-0 vs. Toronto, 0-1 vs. Laval)
Final Top 10 ranking (March 1): No. 1
Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 1 (8 weeks: last 8 polls)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 14
Conference award winners: Kim Tulloch (MVP), Katie Miyazaki (defensive MVP), Jill Humbert (Sylvia Sweeney Award nominee), Lisa Thomaidis (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Kim Tulloch (G), Jill Humbert (G)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: None
Conference all-rookie team: No all-rookie team in Canada West
Season leader (points per game): Kim Tulloch (16.9)
Season leader (rebounds per game): Katie Miyazaki (6.8)
Season leader (assists per game): Jill Humbert (4.8)
CIS championship appearances (including 2011): 6th
CIS championship all-time record: 5-9 (.357)
CIS championship best result: Bronze (2010)
CIS championship last appearance: 2010 (Bronze)
CIS championship sequence: 4th consecutive appearance (5th in 6 years / only other: 1982)
 
No. 3 Carleton Ravens
Media Guide (PDF 1.12 MB) 
Head Coach: Taffe Charles (4th season)
Regular season record: 18-4
Regular season standing: 2nd OUA East (4th overall OUA)
Playoff record: 3-2
Playoff finish: OUA finalists / Central Regional finalists
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 29-8
Overall record vs. Final 8 teams: 3-6 (0-2 vs. Windsor, 0-1 vs. Cape Breton, 2-1 vs. Toronto, 1-1 vs. StFX, 0-1 vs. Laurier)
Final Top 10 ranking (March 1): No. 4
Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 3 (1 week: poll 11)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 14
Conference award winners (OUA East): None
Conference 1st team all-stars (OUA East): None
Conference 2nd team all-stars (OUA East): Alyson Bush (G)
Conference all-rookie team (OUA East): None
Season leader (points per game): Kendall MacLeod (11.1)
Season leader (rebounds per game): Kendall MacLeod (5.5)
Season leader (assists per game): Alyson Bush (4.3)
CIS championship appearances (including 2011): 1st
CIS championship all-time record: 1-1 (.500) *
CIS championship best result: First appearance
CIS championship last appearance: First appearance
CIS championship sequence: First appearance
 
* Including 1-1 record at 2011 Central Regional
 
No. 4 Cape Breton Capers
Media Guide (PDF 2.21 MB) 
Head Coach: Fabian McKenzie (12th season)
Regular season record: 16-4
Regular season standing: 1st AUS
Playoff record: 2-0
Playoff finish: AUS champions
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 24-6
Overall record vs. Final 8 teams:  4-1 (1-0 vs. Carleton, 2-0 vs. StFX, 1-1 vs. Laurier)
Final Top 10 ranking (March 1): No. 7
Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 7 (4 weeks: polls 10-11-12-14)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 13
Conference award winners: Fabian McKenzie (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Jahlica Kirnon (G)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Nicole Works (G)
Conference all-rookie team: Kayla McCarron (F)
Season leader (points per game): Kari Everett (17.6)
Season leader (rebounds per game): Denisha Haywood (10.8)
Season leader (assists per game): Nicole Works (4.3)
CIS championship appearances (including 2011): 5th 
CIS championship all-time record: 6-5 (.545)
CIS championship best result: Finalists (2006)
CIS championship last appearance: 2010 (5th place)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd straight appearance (5th in 8 years & in history)
 
No. 5 Toronto Varsity Blues
Media Guide (click here) 
Head Coach: Michèle Bélanger (32nd season)
Regular season record: 18-4
Regular season standing: 1st OUA East (3rd overall OUA)
Playoff record: 4-1
Playoff finish: OUA bronze medallists / East Regional winners
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 29-7
Overall record vs. Final 8 teams:  5-3 (1-0 vs. Windsor, 0-1 vs. Saskatchewan, 1-2 vs. Carleton, 2-0 vs. Laurier, 1-0 vs. Laval)
Final Top 10 ranking (March 1): No. 6
Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 5 (1 week: poll 13)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 13
Conference award winners (OUA East): Jill Stratton (rookie), Michèle Bélanger (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars (OUA East): Nicki Schutz (F)
Conference 2nd team all-stars (OUA East): Sherri Pierce (G)
Conference all-rookie team (OUA East): Jill Stratton (G)
Season leader (points per game): Nicki Shutz (14.2)
Season leader (rebounds per game): Nicki Shutz (9.1)
Season leader (assists per game): Jill Stratton (2.6)
CIS championship appearances (including 2011): 17th
CIS championship all-time record: 22-23 (.489) *
CIS championship best result: Champions (1986)
CIS championship last appearance: 2008 (tied 7th place)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd appearance in 10 years (2011, 2008, 2002)
 
* Including 2-0 record at 2011 Eastern Regional
 
No. 6 St. Francis Xavier X-Women
Media Guide (PDF 941 KB) 
Head Coach: Matt Skinn (3rd season)
Regular season record: 14-6
Regular season standing: 3rd AUS
Playoff record: 4-1
Playoff finish: AUS bronze medallists / Central Regional winners
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 22-9
Overall record vs. Final 8 teams:  2-3 (1-1 vs. Carleton, 0-2 vs. Cape Breton, 0-1 vs. Laval)
Final Top 10 ranking (March 1): Unranked
Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): Unranked all season
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 0
Conference award winners: Ashley Stephen (defensive MVP)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Ashley Stephen (G)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Sheryl Chisholm (G)
Conference all-rookie team: None
Season leader (points per game): Sheryl Chisholm (13.4)
Season leader (rebounds per game): Ashley Stephen (8.2)
Season leader (assists per game): Ashley Stephen (3.2)
CIS championship appearances (including 2011): 2nd  
CIS championship all-time record: 2-2 (.500) *
CIS championship best result: Tied 7th (1997)
CIS championship last appearance: 1997 (Tied 7th)
CIS championship sequence: 2nd appearance in 14 years (2nd in history)
 
* Including 2-0 record at 2011 Central Regional
 
No. 7 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Media Guide (click here) 
Head Coach: Paul Falco (3rd season)
Regular season record: 15-7
Regular season standing: 3rd OUA West (5th overall OUA)
Playoff record: 4-2
Playoff finish: OUA 4th place finishers / Western Regional winners
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 24-12
Overall record vs. Final 8 teams:  2-6 (0-3 vs. Windsor, 1-0 vs. Carleton, 1-1 vs. Cape Breton, 0-2 vs. Toronto)
Final Top 10 ranking (March 1): No. 9
Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 9 (1 week: final poll)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 1
Conference award winners (OUA West): Felicia Mazerolle (rookie), Renata Adamczyk (Sylvia Sweeney Award nominee), Paul Falco (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars (OUA West): Renata Adamczyk (G)
Conference 2nd team all-stars (OUA West): None
Conference all-rookie team: Felicia Mazerolle (G)
Season leader (points per game): Renata Adamczyk (13.0)
Season leader (rebounds per game): Megan Grant (7.7)
Season leader (assists per game): Renata Adamczyk (3.1)
CIS championship appearances (including 2011): 3rd 
CIS championship all-time record: 2-4 (.333) *
CIS championship best result: Tied 7th place (2004, 2003)
CIS championship last appearance: 2004 (tied 7th place)
CIS championship sequence: 3rd appearance in 9 years (3rd in history)
 
* Including 2-0 record at 2011 Western Regional
 
No. 8 Laval Rouge et Or
Media Guide (PDF 2.56 MB) 
Head Coach: Linda Marquis (26th season)
Regular season record: 5-11
Regular season standing: 4th RSEQ
Playoff record: 2-0
Playoff finish: RSEQ champions
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 11-15
Overall record vs. Final 8 teams: 1-2 (1-0 vs. Saskatchewan, 0-1 vs. Toronto, 0-1 vs. StFX)
Final Top 10 ranking (March 1): Unranked
Best Top 10 ranking (14 weeks): No. 8 (2 weeks: first 2 polls)
Number of weeks in Top 10 (14 weeks): 3
Conference award winners: Marie-Michelle Genois (Sylvia Sweeney Award nominee)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Marie-Michelle Genois (F/P)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Elyse Jobin (G)
Conference all-rookie team: Catherine Groleau (F)
Season leader (points per game): Marie-Michelle Genois (14.4)
Season leader (rebounds per game): Marie-Michelle Genois (10.6)
Season leader (assists per game): Marie-Michelle Genois (3.1)
CIS championship appearances (including 2011): 17th
CIS championship all-time record: 10-29 (.256)
CIS championship best result: Finalists (2002)
CIS championship last appearance: 2010 (6th)
CIS championship sequence: 7th straight appearance (11th in 12 years)

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 17 (Team practices at St. Denis Centre)

9:00 – 9:55 StFX
10:00 – 10:55 Carleton
11:00 – 11:55 Laurier
12:00 – 12:55 Saskatchewan
13:00 – 13:55 Laval
14:00 – 14:55 Windsor
15:00 – 15:55 Cape Breton
16:00 – 16:55 Toronto

18:30 – 21:00 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (St. Clair Centre for the Arts)

Friday, March 18

13:00 Quarter-final #1: No. 6 StFX vs. No. 3 Carleton (SSN Canada webcast) *
15:00 Quarter-final #2: No. 7 Laurier vs. No. 2 Saskatchewan (SSN Canada webcast) *
18:00 Quarter-final #3: No. 8 Laval vs. No. 1 Windsor (SSN Canada webcast) *
20:00 Quarter-final #4: No. 5 Toronto vs. No. 4 Cape Breton (SSN Canada webcast)

* Televised locally on TVCogeco.

Saturday, March 19

13:00 Consolation #1: Loser QF #1 vs. Loser QF #2 (SSN Canada webcast)
15:00 Consolation #2: Loser QF #3 vs. Loser QF #4 (SSN Canada webcast)
18:00 Semifinal #1: Winner QF #1 vs. Winner QF #2 (SSN Canada webcast) *
20:00 Semifinal #2: Winner QF #3 vs. Winner QF #4 (SSN Canada webcast) *

* Televised locally on TVCogeco.

Sunday, March 20

11:00 5th place game (SSN Canada webcast)
13:00 Bronze medal game (SSN Canada webcast) *
16:30 Championship final (Live on TSN)

* Televised locally on TVCogeco.
 
-CIS-