CIS women's basketball roundup: Huskies crowned Canada West champs; Windsor captures third straight OUA title

Matteke Hutzler won the battle of the paint against the OUA East player of the year Hannah Sunley-Paisley. Hutzler scored 21 points, four rebounds and four steals, while Sunley-Paisley had 16 points and four rebounds, well under her season average of 11.5 per game.

Laura Dally and Beckie Williams were the other Mustangs in double-digits in scoring as Dally had 13 and Williams added 10 points. The Mustangs played excellent defence forcing 26 turnovers by Ottawa.

The game got off to a slow start as neither team could find a rhythm offensively and each team traded fouls. The Mustangs and Gee-Gee's battled back-and-forth and Western held a slim 12-11 lead after the first quarter.

The Mustangs stepped out the defensively pressure in the second quarter, alternating full-court and half-court defence to force a number of Ottawa turnovers. Western outscored the Gee-Gees 19-9 in the quarter to take a 31-20 halftime lead. The lead was due in part to Ottawa having 15 turnovers to just six for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs saw a 13 point lead get cut to four points by Ottawa during the third quarter. Western responded to increase their lead and at the end of the third the Mustangs had a nine-point lead 41-35.

Western opened up a double-digit lead 50-40 with 4:54 left in the game on a feed into the post to Hutzler. The Mustangs held Ottawa scoreless for the next three minutes of game action as Western extended their lead to 57-40. Each team would trade baskets in the final minute as the Mustangs won fifth place in the OUA with a 60-44 victory.

The Mustangs will advance to a CIS regional tournament to play for a spot at the CIS Nationals in Windsor, Ont. on Mar. 18-20.

Source: Western Sports Info

Despite a strong start, a poor third quarter would prove to be detrimental for the Sea~Hawks.

With the Field House near full capacity, and a strong first quarter saw the Sea~Hawks jump out to a 24-12 lead, all was looking good for the home team. Grace Fishbein started off where she left last night, dropping three shots from downtown in the opening half.

MUN was running on all cylinders, as they shot the ball well from long range and CBU's Denisha Haywood of CBU picked up two quick fouls in the opening minutes of the game, which left coach Fabian Mackenzie with no choice but to sit the leading rebounder in the AUS for the remainder of the half.

The half time score was 39-36 in favor of the hometown Sea~Hawks.

Cape Breton seemed energized in the third quarter as Jahlica Kirnon led the Capers to a 19-11 advantage in the frame to give CBU a five point lead heading into the fourth.

The two teams traded basket after basket down the stretch with just over a minute left in the game, Denisha Haywood came up with a strong offensive rebound and put back to go along with a foul to stretch the lead.

With 15 seconds left on the clock and down by three, Brittany Dalton drove hard to the left but to her contested lay-up rimmed out. The Sea~Hawks would then intentionally foul in hopes to stretch out the game, but it was a lost cause as the Capers player hit both free throws to ice the game.

Dalton was named player of the game for the Sea~Hawks with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Dalton was also Memorial's top defender. Grace Fishbein chipped in with 19 points on 4-9 shooting from long range.

Kirnon led the way for the winning side, posting 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.

The Sea~Hawks will now battle St. FX tomorrow morning at 11am in the third place game, while the Capers will square off against a tough UNB team for the AUS Championship title.

Source: Memorial Sports Info

Corby, a fifth year from Ottawa, had a game-high 23 points on a tidy 9-13 from the floor. AUS rookie of the year Claire Colborne added 17 in the win.

UNB dominated the second and fourth quarters in the win.

Kirsten Jones led St. FX with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

The Varsity Reds advance to Sunday's AUS Championship final at 1 p.m. at the Field House.

Source: Memorial Sports Info

"I thought they played well defensively in the second half," said head coach Paul Falco following the game. "We really struggled offensively and we had a tough time getting good looks."

The Golden Hawks opened the match with a strong road effort, 20-8 in the first quarter. However, the home team outscored the purple and gold in the next three quarters of the match. Renata Adamczyk (Greensville, Ont.) led the Hawks in the second half, scoring 12 of her 16 points in that frame.

Laurier gained the lead early in the first half courtesy of some strong inside play by post Christa Mancino (Port Colbourne, Ont.). She finished the day with 11 points, ten of which were in the first half. Mallory Kohlmeier (Sarnia, Ont.) posted 11 points in the first half with three key three pointers to keep the Hawks in the lead at the break.

"They picked up their defence and out hustled us," said Kohlmeier following the game. The Blues had 16 steals in the game.

Toronto's Nicki Schutz got into foul trouble late in the first half, picking up three fouls and heading to the bench. In the second frame Jill Stratton stepped up her game, hitting the key baskets that put the Blues into the lead for good. Schutz scored 11 points for the Blues, while Stratton scored 15. Stratton also went 7-for-14 from the floor and had nine rebounds.
The Blues outrebounded the Hawks 44-31 with the purple and gold only picking up nine offensive rebounds to the home team's 16.

The Golden Hawks will now advance to the CIS regional qualifiers as the no. four OUA seed. They will travel out West.

Source: Laurier Sports Info

The Lancers needed a late rally and some stingy fourth quarter defense to secure the Ontario title in front of a raucous capacity crowd in Windsor.

Incredibly, it is Windsor's third straight OUA title as they now will begin preparations for the upcoming CIS National Championship Tournament set for March 18-20 at the St. Denis Centre.

Windsor got 17 points and 8 rebounds from OUA player of the year Jessica Clemencon as they rallied in the fourth quarter to earn the win.

On Saturday night, the visiting Ravens got off to a fast start as they built an early 16-6 lead in the first quarter. Carleton used some hot outside shooting to gain the early advantage on the road.

The Ravens continued to apply pressure to the Lancers throughout the half which seemed to upset Windsor's momentum at the offensive end. The visitors also used some aggressive offensive rebounding that led to a number of second chance opportunities and points.

The result was a low scoring first half that saw Windsor shoot only 27% from the field and 1 of 10 from long range as they went into the locker room trailing 27-20 at the break.

The second half continued to be a defensive struggle, however the Lancers picked up their scoring attack in the paint. Jessica Clemencon began to make her mark inside as Windsor cut into Ravens lead and trailed only 38-34 after three quarters.

With the OUA Championship on the line in the final 10 minutes, Windsor cranked up their defensive intensity and limited Carleton to only 6 points in the entire fourth quarter.

Still trailing in the final minutes, the Lancers got a big three-pointer from Bojana Kovacevic to tie the game at 42-42 and send the crowd into a frenzy.

From there, Windsor worked the ball inside to their all-star Clemencon who sealed the victory at the free throw line as the Lancers won 46-44.

In addition to Clemencon, the Lancers got 12 points and 3 assists from Emily Abbott while veteran Heather Angus added some valulable minutes as she chipped in with 7 points and 4 rebounds.

The Lancers will now begin preparations for the much anticipated CIS Women's Basketball National Championship which will take place at the University of Windsor from March 18-20.

Fans are encouraged to buy their reserved seats now for the championship by visiting www.goLancers.ca.

Source: Windsor Sports Info

Il s'agit d'un 11e championnat en douze ans pour les représentantes de l'Université Laval, et d'un septième de suite. Le Rouge et Or est maintenant qualifié pour le Championnat de Sport interuniversitaire canadien (SIC) qui se tiendra à Windsor en Ontario du 18 au 20 mars.

La troupe de l'entraîneure-chef Linda Marquis a commencé la rencontre sur les chapeaux de roues avec une avance de 27-14 au terme du premier quart. À la mi-temps, le Rouge et Or menait 41-32.

Les Citadins ont réduit l'écart à 41-37 au retour de la pause, mais ce fut là le pointage le plus serré, le Rouge et Or distançant à nouveau les Montréalaises pour se retrouver avec les commandes 58 à 45 avec les dix dernières minutes à jouer.

Elyse Jobin a été la plus productive pour les gagnantes. La jeune femme originaire de Moncton a réussi cinq paniers de trois points, terminant la partie avec une récolte de 21 points.

L'étudiante en physiothérapie a aussi été la meneuse en offensive lors de la demi-finale mercredi contre les Martlets de McGill avec 17 points. Les Martlets avaient été couronnées championnes de la saison en vertu de leur dossier de 13-3.

Toujours du côté des Lavalloises, Mélodie Laniel-Dion a marqué 12 points, et Marie-Michelle Genois et Julie Chapados en ont inscrit 10.

Les visiteuses ont été dominantes sous le panier avec 51 rebonds contre 35 pour l'UQAM.

Rappelons que le Rouge et Or a terminé la saison au quatrième rang du circuit québécois avec une fiche de cinq victoires et 11 défaites. Quant à l'UQAM, sa fiche de 10-6 lui a conféré le deuxième échelon.

Source: Laval Sports Info

SASKATOON - With 39 points in the second half, the Alberta Pandas won the bronze medal after a 77-64 win over the Fraser Valley Cascades on Saturday night at the PAC.

It is the 10th Canada West bronze medal in Alberta Pandas’ history. The fourth-place Canada West finish is also a best-ever for the Cascades, who played in their first-ever Canada West Final Four since entering the conference in 2006-07.

Both teams will move on to the CIS Regional rounds March 11-12. Alberta will compete in the Central Regional hosted by the Ontario University Athletics team that finishes second, while Fraser Valley will compete in the Atlantic Regional hosted by the second place Atlantic University Sport team.

Canada West First Team All-Star Marisa Haylett led the Pandas with 18 points on the night, while Sally Hillier and Georgia Popovici each added 12 points. Popovici also had a game-high eight rebounds.

Fraser Valley’s Tessa Klassen finished with a game-high 21 points and Aieisha Luyken added another 16. Sarah Wierks nabbed six rebounds in the game for the Cascades.

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info

SASKATOON, Sask. - For the second time in history, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies were crowned Canada West champions after a 77-74 win over provincial foe the University of Regina Cougars Saturday night in front of a crowd of 2,237 at the PAC in Saskatoon.

Veteran Huskie players Marci Kiselyk, Kim Tulloch, Jill Humbert and Katie Miyazaki guided the Huskies to the win each scoring double digits. Fifth-year forward Kiselyk led the way with a double-double scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds. Canada West MVP Tulloch followed with 17 points, while Humbert chipped in 15 and Miyazaki 11.

Saskatchewan won their first conference title in 2005-06.

“This win shows the character of our team to battle back after being down by nine to win,” said Huskie head coach Lisa Thomaidis, who was at the helm for the first the first championship victory. “The experience of our fifth-year players really allowed us to overcome the adversity. I am so proud of our team.”

Gabrielle Gheyssen was 5-for-8 from three-point land and led the Cougars with 17 points. Lindsay Ledingham had 16 for the U of R, while Carly Graham scored 15 and Joanna Zalesiak had 12 points and nine assists.

Each having trouble hitting shots throughout the first half, the Cougars were able to score just a single point more than the Huskies in each quarter. Regina led by seven points early in the first quarter but Kiselyk and  Miyazaki were able to get the Huskies back in the quarter and by the end of the frame Regina led 17-16. Matching each other point-for-point in the second quarter, twice the Huskies were able to tie the game. Cougar Kayla Hannah hit two foul shots to give Regina a 32-30 lead at halftime.

Regina scored the first seven points after the break led by Gheyssen with five before Trisha Carriere got the Huskies on the board sending Saskatchewan on a six point run of their own. Regina continued to keep the lead until  Miyazaki tied the game at 53. At the buzzer, Zalesiak threw the ball up from half court sinking the three pointer to lead 56-53 heading into the final quarter.

A three-pointer by Graham gave the Cougars a four-point lead with seven minutes left in the fourth, but Saskatchewan rallied with 10 consecutive points as Regina went almost five minutes without scoring.
The Cougars tied the game at 70 with a 6-0 run of their own, but  Tulloch hit a three-pointer with 1:03 remaining to give the Huskies the lead for good. Regina had a chance to tie it on the last possession after the two teams traded free throws in the final minute, but Zalesiak's heavily contested three-pointer from the corner was no good.

Saskatchewan heads straight to the CIS Championship in Windsor, March 18-20. It will be the Huskies, fifth trip to CIS Championship in six seasons.

Regina will have another shot at a spot in the Final 8 as hosts of the CIS West Regional March 11-12. The four-team tournament will included UQAM, Wilfrid Laurier, and a recipient of an at-large bid to be announced Sunday. The winner will earn a berth in the CIS Championship.

Earlier in the day, Alberta defeated Fraser Valley 77-64 to win the bronze medal.

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info