CIS women's basketball Saturday roundup: Yeboah nets 32 in strong performance, but Vikes fall to No. 7 Pandas

The X-Women basketball team resumed AUS action this past weekend as they split a pair of games with the UNB Varsity Reds at the StFX Oland Centre. StFX won Friday's night's match 76-69 but then fell to the V-Reds by a 74-66 score on Saturday afternoon. Both games were closely contested.
 
Friday's game saw both teams play close basketball throughout the first half as the score was deadlocked at 18-18 after the first quarter and remained tied at 31-31 at half-time. The X-Women started to pull away in the latter part of the third quarter and were up 55-48 after 30 minutes.
 
The Varsity Reds pulled to within three points of the X-Women in the fourth quarter X regained their lead and held on for the remainder of the game and the 76-69 victory.
 
Subway Player of the Game Donisha Young scored a game high 24 points for the X-Women and topped off a double-double game with 10 rebounds. Vanessa Pickard scored 10 points, while Rebecca Sheehan, Anne Kiberd and Jocelyn Moore each contributed 10 points apiece. Kiberd was 2 for 6 from three-point range. Kiley DeLong played strong under the boards for the X-Women with 10 rebounds and she also scored 7 points.
 Claire Colborne led the Varsity Reds with 18 points and 6 rebounds and Emma Russell scored 11 points and had 8 boards.

 Colborne also led UNB in scoring in Saturday's 74-66 win as she scored 19 points. Teammate Jordanne Holstein scored 14 points and Megan Corby and Colleen Daly each had eight.

 The Varsity Reds opened up an 18-15 lead over the X-Women in the first quarter and kept pace with a 31-27 half-time advantage. They held onto a 4-6 point lead for the majority of the third frame until Rebecca Sheehan's three pointer late in the quarter put the X-Women within one. The third quarter closed out 46-45 in favor of UNB.

 The fourth quarter saw the V-Reds quickly regain their lead which increased to nine points with five minutes left to play. A pair of three pointers by Colleen Daly came at key times to help them hold onto their lead and UNB took the 74-66 win.

Rebecca Sheehan was the high scorer for the X-Women with 21 points while Donisha Young had another double-double game with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

 The X-Women are now 3-4 on the season and are currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the AUS conference with Dalhousie and Cape Breton. Their next game is against the Capers in Sydney this coming Wednesday.

Source: StFX Sports Info

HAMILTON, Ont. - In McMaster's first home game of the second half of the regular season, the Marauders took down the visiting Waterloo Warriors 79-51. The game's high scorer was rookie Abby Hurd of the Marauders with 18 points. She was also named the Big Mac Player of the Game.

Halfway through the first, the Marauders took an early lead of 9-5 and never looked back, capitalizing on sloppy play on either end of the court. Big defensive plays in McMaster's end kept Waterloo's scoring to a minimal as the Marauders would go up 15-7 before the Warriors would score another basket. The score would end at the half 20-11 in favour of the home side.

In the second, the Marauders took their first double-digit lead of the game at 7:30. Taylor Chiarot would have a game-high six at that time including a three pointer earlier in the quarter. Later in the second around the five minute mark, rookie Hurd would drain a three of her own to help the Marauders go up by 13 with a score of 27-14. Waterloo quickly responded with a three of their own at the shot clock buzzer.

The closest the Warriors would get would be within 11 as McMaster continued to build up their lead. Chiarot would hit ten points with two foul shots with a minute and a half to go and Hurd would sink another three just before the halftime buzzer to make the score 39-26.

In the third, the Marauders couldn't be stopped as a number of McMaster players got on the board with shots, lay-ups and free throws. Hailey Milligan would force the and-one at 4:00 to push the lead to 22 points at 56-34. The third quarter would end 58-38 for the Marauders. Three players for the home team had already hit double-digit numbers including Chiarot, Milligan and Liz Burns.

In the fourth it was smooth sailing for the Marauders as they closed out the win with a score of 79-51. McMaster now restores their .500 record from before the break at 5-5 on the season.

Hurd led the Marauders with 18 points. Milligan recorded the double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Chiarot ended the game with 13 points for the Marauders and teammate Burns added another 12.

For Waterloo, Madison Behr had a team-high 13 points and Laura Burnett had another 10 for the visitors.

Next up for the Marauders is the Brock Badgers on Wednesday, January 11 on the road at 6:00 p.m.

Source: McMaster Sports Info

MONTREAL - A slow start sank the Bishop's Gaiters as they fell, 77-69, to the UQAM Citadins in Quebec university women's basketball league play tonight in Montreal. The Gaiters were held to only 23 points in the first 20 minutes, as the Citadins led 18-10 after the first quarter and 36-23 at halftime. Bishop's chipped away at the lead in the second half, but five straight points by Michelle Auger-Bellemare in a 15-second span early in the fourth quarter put the game away.

Bishop's (7-11, 7-10 CIS, 2-3 Quebec) was led by rookie forward Eloisa Katz (Ra'anana, Israel), and veteran guard Annick Stephanny Charles (Laval, Que.), who each scored 13 points, while Catherine Rondeau (Sherbrooke, Que.) added ten. The Gaiters dressed only nine players, as Jessy Roy, Gabrielle Chamberland and Clare Murphy were all scratched.

UQAM (2-13, 2-13, 1-5 Quebec) had four players each in double figures, led by 18 points each from Auger-Bellemare and Valerie Gauvin. Emie Simard added 15, including 12 first-half points, and Camille Michaud scored ten. 

The Gaiters return to action on Thursday, as they visit the McGill Martlets. Tipoff at the Love Competition Hall in Montreal is set for 6 p.m.

Source: Bishop's Sports Info

SUDBURY, Ont. - The Carleton Ravens used clinical finishing and strong organizational play to take a 68-44 victory against the Laurentian Lady Vees. Despite a hard fought, close first quarter, some poor finishing on behalf of the Lady Vees allowed the Ravens to claim the comfortable win.

Both teams made a strong start to the game, with the Ravens jumping out to quick lead, only to have some strong physical play from the Vees allow them to pull back to just a 3-point deficit, down just 18-15 at the break. The second quarter saw more of the same from the Ravens, with some well structured defense keeping the Vees at bay for a majority of the quarter. This allowed the Ravens to take a well deserved 35-21 lead into the end of the first half.

The second half brought about more frustration for the Lady Vees, as they were continually kept of the score sheet by a strong, physical Raven defense. As the Ravens began to pull ahead, a ray of light was offered for the Vees as Erin Simpson (Sudbury, On) drained a 3-point buzzer beater from long range to bring the score back to 45 -32 in favour of the Ravens heading into the final quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Vees still couldnt find the answers with the Ravens solid defense remaining as strong as ever. In the end, the Carleton Ravens emerged victorious by a score of 68-44.

When asked about the game, Coach Clarke was happy with the effort put forward by his team, especially against a top 10 team as disciplined as the Carleton Ravens. Clarke was also quick to comment on the lack of finishing prowess displayed by the Vees, and felt that should they be able to gain the clinical edge with regards to finishing, then the Vees would be able to provide more competition for opposition of the same caliber as the Ravens. The win sees the Ravens jump to 6-3 for the season, with the Vees dropping to 2-7.

For further information regarding your Lady Vees, visit http://www.luvoyageurs.com for all the latest news, results, and updates as they happen.

Laurentian University's Department of Athletics is home to 15 varsity sports teams. The Voyageurs and Lady Vees decorated history of pride and tradition includes 61 provincial championships as well as 9 national championships in 50 years of competition.

Source: Laurentian Sports Info

KINGSTON, Ont. - The Gaels (5-5) held a two point advantage over the visiting No. 10 Varsity Blues (7-3) heading into the final quarter but were unnable to hold in a 73-63 loss. Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont. had 14 points which moved her into fifth on the all-time OUA scoring list. Moore passed Laura MacCallum who played for York from 2004 to 2009 and accumulated 1,448 points in her career. Moore now sits at 1,462 points for her career.

The Varsity Blues finished with all five of their starters in double digits and Jill Stratton of Etobicoke, Ont. finished with a game high 16 points and eight rebounds. Kingston, Ont. native Liz Boag finished with 11 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists.

The first three quarters of basketball were back and forth, the Gaels edging the Blues by only two points going into the fourth quarter. A 16-6 run by the Blues at the start of the fourth, sparked by free throw shooting, was too much for the Gaels to overcome.

Offensively the Geals had a strong game with four players finishing with double digit scoring. Queen's was able to rack up 50 points from the field, 30 of them assisted. They went into the half tied with the Blues having only reached the foul line four times. A short spurt of turnovers and fouls from the Gaels, and offensive rebounds from the Blues, took the game out of reach.

The Geals' season continues next Friday and Saturday as they host Laurentien and York. Both games tip off at 6:00pm.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

WINDSOR, Ont. - The No. 2 ranked Lancer women’s basketball team easily defeated the visiting Guelph Gryphons 85-57 on Saturday night at the St. Denis Centre.
 
With the win, the Lancers are 8-2 in regular season action and remain in second place in the OUA West division.
 
The Lancers’ offense dominated the Gryphons to start the game as Windsor took a commanding 33-9 lead after the first quarter.
 
Guelph found their footing in the second as they went point for point with Windsor, with each team scoring 15 apiece in the quarter. The Lancers still doubled up on the Gryphons 48-24 heading into the break.
 
Windsor maintained their consistent shooting throughout the second and capitalized on some Guelph errors to maintain their lead and earn the win.
 
The Lancers shot an impressive 47.4% from the field compared to the Gryphons 27.3%, and earned 60 of their 85 points from in the paint.
 
Jessica Clemencon once again had an outstanding game with 23 points and 10 rebounds for the game’s only double-double. Miah-Marie Langlois finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, while Jessica Gordan had a season high 10 points. Defensively, Iva Peklova a had game high 12 rebounds.
 
The Lancers will host the Waterloo Warriors on Wednesday night at 6:00pm at the St. Denis Centre. 

Source: Windsor Sports Info

THUNDER BAY, ON - The women's basketball team came away with a weekend sweep of the Western Mustangs, winning 64-63 on Saturday evening thanks to some last second heroics courtesy of Lacey McNulty and Lindsay Druery.

The majority of the game was back and forth, with both teams exchanging leads, but none ever exceeding 10 points. Western star Laura Dally, who had been battling illness on Friday, seemed to be somewhat back into form, scoring 16 points in 30 minutes. Guard Jenny Vaughan was near impossible to stop for any defenders that coach Jon Kreiner assigned to her, as she scored 17 and grabbed 7 rebounds.

Lakehead had four players score in double figures, with Lacey McNulty leading the pack with a huge 12 point and 16 rebound outing to go with 2 steals. Lindsay Druery had a game-high 19 points, while Ayse Kalkan and Carolyn Fragale had 11 each.

Coming on the end of the game and Lakehead up by 5 , Western went on a run to tie the game, and then take the lead, 61-59 with under two minutes to play. Lakehead would go ahead 62-61 on a Carolyn Fragale three ball from the right wing with 25 seconds to play. Jenny Vaughan would score on a turnaround jumper in the lane with 18 seconds left to put the pressure on Lakehead. On the subsequent play, Lindsay Druery was fouled on a lay up with 1.9 seconds remaining, thus needing only to hit 2 throws to secure the win. Surprisingly, she clanked the first, and then missed the second as well on a lazy bounce off the rim. Luckily, Lacey McNulty was active on the glass, quickly tapping the ball back at the rim, but over it and into the hands of Druery who caught and released a lay up off the glass just before the final buzzer sounded. 

Despite lodging a protest with officials about the time keeping, Western coach Brian Cheung was denied any quarter from the referees. Upon later review of the game tape (after the game), it was clear that no 'homer' time keeping was to blame for the miraculous finish, only a lucky bounce and the tenacity of McNulty and Druery to fight to the very end.

Jon Kreiner on the win:

"It was a thrilling finish to a game that had many lead changes and where both teams worked very hard.  Tonight we struggled to get to the free throw line and when we did we struggled to convert but our second effort plays were the difference in the game.  I thought our team effort on the glass was awesome tonight and after a poor start to the game Lacey came in when it was 35-30 Western and changed our team's momentum.  She was really noticeable in the 4th quarter and her 16 rebounds were huge for us especially on the last play of the game where she tipped the ball off a missed FT to Druery for the game winning bucket.  Sierra Guy and Ayse Kalkan played big tonight with 10 and 8 rebounds respectively (Sierra with 6 Offensive) and on a night where we didn't shoot it that well we got many 2nd chances to score." 

Next weekend the women travel to Kitchener-Waterloo for a weekend series versus the Laurier Golden Hawks.

Source: Lakehead Sports Info

The University of Regina's women's basketball team won their second road game in as many nights over Brandon on Saturday night, defeating the Bobcats 92-46 in a Canada West game in Brandon.
 
The top-ranked Cougars left little doubt from the beginning in the win, scoring 17 of the game's first 18 points.
 
Michelle Clark was 5-for-10 from three-point land and led all scorers with 23 points, while rookie Alyssia Kajati had a career-high 14 points and Lindsay Ledingham added 13. Megan Chamberlin had a team-high 10 rebounds for the Cougars.
 
Jaynell Gillett led Brandon with 10 points, while Aimee Johnston had a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
The Cougars, who hold a 2½ game lead atop the East Division, will return to action next weekend on the road at Manitoba (3-7).

Source: Regina Sports Info

VICTORIA, B.C. - The No. 7 nationally ranked Alberta Pandas got a scare but held off a gritty University of Victoria Vikes squad, forcing Victoria's forwards into foul trouble to win 88-84 in front of over 500 fans at Ken & Kathy Shields Court at McKinnon Gymnasium on Saturday Jan. 6.
 
With the loss, UVic drops to 5-5 after hosting arguably their toughest weekend double-header of the season, while Alberta snaps a three-game losing streak to improve to 7-3.
 
Debbie Yeboah of Winnipeg was phenomenal in the loss, netting 32 points and added seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals, all while committing just one turnover. She was also strong defensively for the Vikes. Nicole Clarke of Calgary paced the Pandas with a team-high 20 points while Anneka Bakker of Ottawa added 19.

Alberta was 24 for 26 from the free-throw line and outscored UVic 28-18 off the bench. However, UVic's 29-8 edge on points off turnovers allowed them to stay close and be up several teams in a game featuring 10 lead changes.
 
The Pandas took an early 5-0 lead just over a minute in forcing a Vikes timeout to settle things down. Alberta continued to lead despite some great individual work by Yeboah and carried a 25-16 lead after the opening quarter.
 
In the second frame, UVic played a much more disciplined defence and cut the lead to 27-23. Improved team offence and continued strong play from Yeboah, Cassandra Goodis of Penticton, B.C., and Jessica Renfrew of Victoria spurred an 11-0 run to give UVIc a 30-27 lead with four minutes left in the half. The run continued at 15-2, closing out with a 23-8 stretch to close out the second quarter. Yeboah had 14 points on 7 for 9 shooting.
 
However, just 90 seconds into the third quarter, Vikes fourth-year forward Chelsea McMullen of Prince George, B.C., picked up her fourth personal foul very quickly, forcing her to the bench and allowing the Pandas to go to work inside the paint. Alberta quickly tied it at 45 aided by some big stops at the defensive end.
 
But the resilient Vikes took the lead back again, going up by seven before then the Pandas went on another run, eventually forcing Semeniuk to pick up her fourth personal foul.
 
Alberta briefly regained the lead, before Yeboah put up another resilient run for the host Vikes, checking back into the game and draining a trey to make it 59-58 for UVic. The Pandas, paced by nine points in 10 minutes from Clarke, led 61-59 after three quarters.
 
In the fourth, the Vikes could not hold off the Pandas which came back several times to secure the victory.
 
Some strong play from Goodis helped UVic to move ahead 70-69, but then more foul trouble plagued the Vikes as McMullen fouled out with four minutes left, with the score tied at 72.
 
UVic led two more times but in the final two minutes, Alberta's depth allowed them to pull ahead for good.
 
The nail in the coffin came from Katie Arbuthot of Calgary as the fourth-year guard drained a three-pointer - just her third of the season - to give the Pandas an 83-80 lead. She finished with 12 points.
 
UVic hosts the Fraser Valley Cascades on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. and Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. at Ken & Kathy Shields Court at McKinnon Gymnasium in two of their final three regular season home games before a five-game road trip.

Source: Victoria Sports Info

VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds halted a five-game Saskatchewan Huskies win streak on Saturday at War Memorial Gym, winning 76-64 to improve to 6-2 on the season.
 
UBC took a five point lead into the fourth, and the Huskies started out strong, cutting it down to two points, but the T-Birds began to pull away in the middle of the quarter.
 
Alex Vieweg got the 'Birds started on a 9-0 run, pushing the lead to double digits. The Huskies never got closer than six points off the lead after that, and Vieweg provided a dagger with two minutes remaining, draining her layup through contact and completing the three-point play from the free throw line for a nine point UBC lead.
 
Aside from a 9-0 Saskatchewan run in the second quarter, the T-Birds were consistent on both sides of the ball on Saturday, earning a +9 turnover advantage and shooting close to 50 per cent from the field.
 
"It's always nice when you don't have any big lulls in the game," said UBC head coach Deb Huband. "We were building a nice lead there in the second and then they went on a 9-0 run, and that's something you don't want to have happen too much, but overall I thought we did a better job taking care of the ball. We moved well as a team and shared the ball offensively."
 
The T-Birds took a small lead into halftime thanks to the sharpshooting Kristen Hughes, who had 11  points at the break and was 3-for-3 from the three point line. Rookie guard Cassandra Knievel hit two of her three pointers in the half also.
 
Hughes ended up with a game-high 18 points and shot 4-for-7 from behind the arc.
 
"When you hit your ranged shots it opens up a lot of things and really complements your inside game. It was great to see Kristen get it going today," said Huband. "She's a very good three point shooter, and that's been obvious over the last couple games but nice to see her really get it going tonight."
 
Vieweg ended up with 17 points and four steals, and was also highly efficient offensively, draining seven of her nine shots.
 
Kris Young netted 10 points for UBC while leading the team with six rebounds and six assists.
 
Standout rookie centre Dalyce Emmerson was a force on the glass, grabbing 13 rebounds and adding 15 points, but the T-Birds did manage to force seven turnovers out of her and outscored the Huskies 26-16 off turnovers.
 
"She's got great potential to be a real dominant post player in the CIS, and she's having a great rookie year," Huband said of Emmerson. "She's going to be a load down the road but we did some good things to create some turnovers today. She's certainly a lot to handle."
 
Katie Miyazaki also had 15 points for the Huskies, who fall to 5-4 with the loss.
 
They will look to regroup in Calgary next weekend, when they take on the Dinos for two games.
 
The T-Birds will also head out on the road for their next four games. Next weekend they take on Thompson Rivers, followed by a trip to Manitoba before returning to War Memorial on January 27 for their next home action against UBC Okanagan.

Source: UBC Sports Info