SEMI-FINAL #2 CIS championship: No. 1 Lancers joins No. 2 Saskatchewan in national final
Courtesy: University of Windsor sports information /
Photo credit Edwin Tam
WINDSOR, Ont. (CIS) – The top-seeded and tournament host
Windsor Lancers are back in the national final for a second
straight year thanks to a 56-47 semifinal win over the No. 4 Cape
Breton Capers at the CIS women’s basketball Final 8, Saturday
night, in front of a capacity crowd of 2,000 at the University of
Windsor’s St. Denis Centre.
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wbkb
The reigning three-time OUA champion Lancers, who dropped a 77-56
decision to Simon Fraser a year ago in Hamilton in their first-ever
appearance in the title match, will battle the No. 2 Saskatchewan
Huskies for the Bronze Baby Trophy Sunday at 4:30 p.m., live on
TSN.
The contest will be a rematch of the 2010 semifinals when Windsor
downed Saskatchewan 82-60.
The Lancers hope to become the first team in the 40-year history of
the CIS tournament to hoist the Bronze Baby on home court, while
the Huskies hope to keep the trophy out West for the 20th straight
year. The last school from outside Canada West to capture the CIS
banner was Laurentian, back-to-back winner in 1990 and 1991.
Atlantic conference Cape Breton will play for CIS bronze at 1 p.m.
against No. 6 StFX. The Capers had finished fifth at the Final 8
each of the past two seasons.
“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 head 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.”
“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,” said Cape Breton sideline boss Fabian Mckenzie.
“In the end, their experience probably made the difference.
That and our poor free throw shooting.”
Cape Breton shot only 31.7 per cent from the floor on the night but
struggled even more at the free throw line, making only five of 16
attempts (31.3%).
Windsor finished with a 37.0 field goal percentage and went
14-for-22 from the charity stripe (63.6%).
Reigning CIS player of the year Jessica Clemençon, a
6-foot-3 sophomore from France, paced the winners with a game-high
18 points, while Miah-Marie Langlois of Windsor, also in her second
season with the Lancers, earned game-MVP honours following a
13-point, five-assist outing.
Bojana Kovacevic, another Windsor native, also scored 13 points in
the win, freshman Korissa Williams, also a local product, led all
players with 11 rebounds.
The Capers received 14 points from rookie Kayla McCarron of Sydney,
N.S., and 10 from Nicole Works of Truro, N.S.
Cape Breton held a 10-9 lead at the end of a first quarter that
featured six lead changes, and subpar shooting. The Capers were
good on only four of 14 field goals in the opening 10 minutes,
while the Lancers went 4-for-13.
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.
Clemençon and Miah-Langlois combined for 20 of the
Lancers’ 22 points before the break, scoring 10 apiece.
Windsor opened a five-point gap early in the third stanza when a
three-pointer by 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.
After being held off the scoresheet in the first half, Kovacevic
came alive in the third with nine points.
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, McCarron brought the Capers back to
within six on two occasions, at 50-44 and 52-46, but the team from
Sydney, N.S., couldn’t get any closer.
STAT LEADERS
WIN 9-13-15-19: 56
CBU 10-14-11-12: 47
Windsor
Points: Jessica Clemençon (18), Bojana Kovacevic
(13), Miah-Marie Langlois (13)
Rebounds: Korissa Williams (11), Raelyn Prince (6)
Assists: Miah-Marie Langlois (5)
Player of the game: Miah-Marie Langlois
Cape Breton
Points: Kayla McCarron (14), Nicole Works (10), Jahlica
Kirnon (7)
Rebounds: Denisha Haywood (8), Jahlica Kirnon (8), Stephanie
Toxopeus (8)
Assists: 4 players with 2
CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Friday, March 18
Quarter-final #1: StFX 50, Carleton 44
Quarter-final #2: Saskatchewan 58, Wilfrid Laurier 51
Quarter-final #3: Windsor 80, Laval 50
Quarter-final #4: Cape Breton 58, Toronto 49
Saturday, March 19
Consolation #1: Wilfrid Laurier 56, Carleton 52
Consolation #2: Toronto 82, Laval 79
Semifinal #1: Saskatchewan 58, StFX 40
Semifinal #2: Windsor 56, Cape Breton 47
Sunday, March 20
11:00 5th place game: No. 7 Wilfrid Laurier vs. No. 5 Toronto (SSN
Canada webcast)
13:00 Bronze medal game: No. 6 StFX vs. No. 4 Cape Breton (SSN
Canada webcast) *
16:30 Championship final: No. 2 Saskatchewan vs. No. 1 Windsor
(Live on TSN)
* Televised locally on TVCogeco.
-CIS-
