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BRONZE CIS championship: No. 4 Capers beat AUS rivals for bronze
Courtesy: University of Windsor sports information /
Photo credit Edwin Tam
WINDSOR, Ont. (CIS) – The fourth-seeded Cape Breton Capers
used an 18-7 fourth quarter to defeat the No. 6 St. Francis Xavier
X-Women 67-53 in the bronze medal game of the CIS women’s
basketball Final 8, Sunday morning, at the University of
Windsor’s St. Denis Centre.
Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wbkb
The third-place finish is the second best result in Cape Breton
history, after a silver medal performance in 2006. The AUS champion
Capers opened the CIS championship on Friday with a 58-49
quarter-final victory over No. 5 Toronto before suffering a 56-47
semifinal loss against top-ranked and tourney host Windsor on
Saturday.
The X-Women had reached the bronze medal contest with a 50-44 upset
of No. 3 Carleton in the opening round followed by a 58-40 loss to
No. 2 Saskatchewan. The fourth-place finish is a program-best as
StFX had gone 0-2 in its lone previous Final 8 appearance in
1997.
“It’s not the right bronze but we’ll take
it,” said 12-year Cape Breton head 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.”
Fourth-year guard Jahlica Kirnon of Toronto paced the winners with
21 points and seven rebounds, while 6-foot-2 forward Denisha
Haywood of Baltimore earned game-MVP honours thanks to a 10-point,
10-board double-double along with six blocks.
For StFX, Kirsten Jones of Scarborough, Ont., scored 17 points and
AUS defensive player of the year Ashley Stephen, also from of
Scarborough, tallied 12 in her final university outing. Both
grabbed seven rebounds.
The first half could not have been closer as the lead changed hands
nine times, including seven in the lone first quarter. The score
was 18-18 after the initial frame and 33-31 StFX at halftime.
The Capers shot 46.4 per cent from the floor compared to 36.8 per
cent for their opponents in the first 20 minutes but committed 11
turnovers to only five by the X-Women.
Haywood and Stephen led their respective teams at the break with
eight points apiece.
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’ domination in the first half of the final quarter
ended up making the difference. The AUS champs outscored StFX by
12-2 in the first six minutes of the period to build a comfortable
61-48 cushion, and never looked back.
Kirnon dominated after the break as she dropped 15 points in the
second half. She also had four blocks and two steals on the
afternoon.
The Capers were lights out from field goal range shooting 41.7% in
the game and 40% from three point territory.
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.
In the second quarter the X-Women grabbed the lead as the turnovers
started to pile up for the Capers who committed 11 in the
half. Stephen had eight points and six rebounds at the
half.
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.
Kirnon had five points in the third quarter to lead the comeback
and put the Capers up by three points heading into the final
stanza.
Kirnon continued her second half dominance in the fourth stanza as
she dropped another 10 points.
GAME NOTES: Cape Breton had won the two previous head-to-head
meetings this season, both in conference play, 71-68 at home on
Nov. 24 and 72-58 on the road on Jan. 19... The last time two AUS
teams battled for CIS bronze, in 2007, Memorial defeated Dalhousie
75-60...
STAT LEADERS
CBU 18-13-18-18: 67
StFX 18-15-13-7: 53
Cape Breton
Points: Jahlica Kirnon (21), Denisha Haywood (10), Kari Everett
(9)
Rebounds: Denisha Haywood (10), Kari Everett (6), Stephanie
Toxopeus (6)
Assists: Tania McClurkin (6)
Player of the game: Denisha Haywood
StFX
Points: Kirsten Jones (17), Ashley Stephen (12), Sheryl Chisholm
(7), Rebecca Sheehan (7)
Rebounds: Kirsten Jones (7), Ashley Stephen (7)
Assists: Victoria Anderson (3), Donisha Young (3)
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
5th place game: Wilfrid Laurier 64, Toronto 57
Bronze medal game: Cape Breton 67, StFX 53
16:30 Championship final: No. 2 Saskatchewan vs. No. 1 Windsor
(Live on TSN)
-CIS-
