 |  |
CIS women's basketball East and West Regional finals: Windsor, Regina off to Final 8
Photo credit Richard Whittaker
| Windsor | 58 | Ottawa | 55 | Final | Box Score |
| CIS East regional final | |||||
|
EAST FINAL 2: Windsor Spoils Gee-Gees’ Perfect Home Record with East Regional Championship Win Courtesy of University of Ottawa sports information OTTAWA (CIS) – Tonight’s East Regional final produced a battle to be expected from two top ten teams with the playoff rivalry Ottawa and Windsor share. After losing to Ottawa at Montpetit Hall only a week earlier in the OUA Final, Windsor spoiled the Gee-Gees perfect home record this season with a taste of revenge in tonight’s 58-55 win for the East Regional championship title. The Gee-Gee defence was the story of the first quarter; the Gee-Gees stifled the Lancers’ offense holding them to an 8.3% shooting percentage and only six points in opening ten minutes. Meanwhile, fifth-year Bess Lennox (Ottawa, Ont.) spearheaded the offensive push with seven points, producing under the basket, at the free throw line and from outside the paint. But if the first quarter belonged to the Gee-Gees, the second quarter was undeniably Windsor’s. The Gee-Gees struggled to find open lanes to the basket and get shots off, while Windsor began hitting shots of their own. Holding the Gee-Gees scoreless for nearly five minutes, two free throws by Miah-Marie Langlois put Windsor in possession of the lead for the first time in the game. The start of the second half didn’t look much more promising for the Garnet and Grey, as fouls and turnovers spoiled any offensive effort on Windsor’s half of the court. Two treys from Langlois and Laura Mullins quickly put the Lancers up by 15, and the Gee-Gees took a time-out in hopes of regrouping. A free throw from fifth-year Hannah Sunley-Paisley (Toronto, Ont.) broke the ice for the Gee-Gees, and a pair later in the frame along with two baskets from Lennox would put the Gee-Gees back in the game. Rookie point guard Kellie Ring (Ottawa, Ont.) found her mark at the free throw line, converting an under the basket lay-up for a three point play. This all set the stage for a fourth quarter showdown. Sunley-Paisley sank two key baskets to put the Gee-Gees within striking range of the Lancers, but a fifth foul with three and a half minutes remaining would put her on the bench for the remainder of the game. And a late three by Sarah Nolette (Edmonton, Alta.) and lay-up from Ring wouldn’t be enough for the Gee-Gees comeback attempt as Lancers’ Langlois maintained her scoring prowess down the stretch, cashing in at the free throw line, capturing the win for the team and earning herself player of the game honours. Windsor’s Jessica Clemencon anchored the Lancers from the free throw line, going a perfect 12-for-12, while Langlois led the Lancers’ scoring with 20 points. Lennox took player of the game for the Gee-Gees, contributing 17 points with Ring just behind at 16 points. “We wanted to prepare ourselves for nationals. We know we’re qualified, we need to play better and we did today,” said Lancers’ head coach Chantal Vallée, “I think that Ontario is a very strong conference, and we are two top quality teams. We saw good basketball tonight form both teams; it’s a little bit of a preview of what’s going to happen at nationals, but you’re going to have eight teams playing at that intensity.” With both uOttawa and Windsor headed to the 2012 CIS Championships next weekend in Calgary, another meeting may just be in the cards for these two teams. Seeding and game times are to be announced on Sunday. STAT LEADERS Scoring per quarter: Windsor Ottawa EAST REGIONAL SCHEDULE & RESULTS (Eastern Time) Friday, March 9 Saturday, March 10
|
|||||
| Brock | 62 | Regina | 85 | Final | Box Score |
| CIS West regional final | |||||
|
WEST FINAL: Cougars dump Brock, win Final 8 berth Courtesy of University of Saskatchewan sports information SASKATOON (CIS) - The No. 1 seed University of Regina Cougars will head to the CIS Final Eight after defeating the No. 3 seed Brock University Badgers 85-62 Saturday night in the West Regional Final at the Physical Activity Complex in Saskatoon. Regina will represent the Canada West, alongside the UBC Thunderbirds, winners of the Canada West champions, and the host Calgary Dinos. The OUA’s University of Windsor Lancers and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees will also compete in the Final 8. Acadia will represent the AUS at the tournament. McGill will represent the RSEQ conference. Schools across the country, including Brock, will await the outcome of the wildcard berth – the final spot at the Final 8. Guard Carly Graham finished with a game-high 17 points for the Cougars, followed by Canada West MVP Joanna Zalesiak and Michelle Clark with 16 points each. For the second straight night, Zalesiak was close to a triple-double with nine rebounds and seven assists. Nicole Rosenkranz, an OUA First Team West Division All-Star, led the Badgers with 14 points and eight rebounds. Three other Badgers reached double-digit point totals. Samantha deJong scored 11 points, while Tara Giallonardo and Jessica Del Signore scored 10 points each. For the second straight night Regina got off to a strong start. Zalesiak led the charge in the opening quarter scoring eight points as the Cougars outscored Brock 23-16 in the first 10 minutes. They continued their strong play in the second quarter stretching their lead to 19 points, 44-25, heading into the halftime break. Regina Head Coach Dave Taylor had high praise for Zalesiak who had a strong weekend of play averaging 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 7.5 assists. “She runs our offence, and put so much pressure on other teams and that frees up some of our shooters,” said Taylor. While the offense was impressive for the Cougars, defensively they were just as strong. Regina held their opponent’s shooting percentage to under 30% in the first 20 minutes. The Badgers managed just nine points in the second quarter going 4-18 from the floor and finished the first half 0-7 from beyond the arc. “I thought we came out flat tonight,” said Brock head coach Si Khounviseth. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t respond when we had to.” The Badgers fought hard till the end outscoring the Cougars 24-19 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late. Brock also won the turnover battle causing 25 turnovers and capitalized by scoring 25 points on the turnovers. The CIS Final 8 is scheduled for March 16-19 in Calgary. All games will be streamed live on ssncanada.ca STAT LEADERS Scoring per quarter: Regina Brock WEST REGIONAL SCHEDULE & RESULTS (Central Time) Friday, March 9 Saturday, March 10 |
|||||
