CIS women's basketball Saturday roundup: No. 6 Ravens edge No. 5 Gee-Gees in OT thriller

GUELPH, Ont. - Saturday afternoon the Guelph Gryphon’s women’s basketball team found themselves undermanned facing the defending national champions, and were overwhelmed by a solid team effort by the Windsor Lancers, dropping a 75-42 matchup at the W.F. Mitchell Centre.

With the win, the Lancers improve to 17-2 on the season, while Guelph drops to 7-11 on the season.

Bojana Kovacevic led all scorers, netting 18 points for the Lancers, while adding eight rebounds and six assists, all game highs. Jocelyn LaRocque came off the bench to contribute 17 points on 4-5 shooting from deep. Jessica Clemencon added 12 points while seeing limited action.

Samantha Russell led the Gryphon’s with 12 points, while Alyssa Shortt chipped in nine points to go with eight rebounds. As a team, the Gryphon’s shot just 26%, while being outrebounded 42-22 against a Lancers team that has the best size in the nation.

Both teams came out with tons of energy early on as each squad took turns trading buckets. The Lancers finally got on a run, finishing the first quarter on a 10-1 run to open up a 20-11 lead after the first quarter. Kovacevic netted seven in the opening frame, with Clemencon adding six points and four rebounds.

Windsor was able to extend their lead in the second quarter thanks to improved ball movement in attacking the Gryphon’s zone defence. Once the ball movement improved, the Lancers were able to heat up from deep, draining four three-pointers in the second to turn a nine point lead into a 15 point halftime advantage. Clemencon and LaRocque played big in the quarter, and led all scorers with 12 and 10 points respectively entering the break. Russell and Shortt led Guelph with six and five points each.

Guelph came out playing tough defence in the second quarter, and were able to cut into the Lancers lead behind Shortt and her ability to attack the bucket, but still found themselves trailing 54-37 after the third quarter, and were unable to get much going offensively in the fourth, being outscored 21-5 in the final frame.

The Gryphon’s will look to the road to end their two game losing streak when they take on the Laurier Golden Hawks Wednesday, February 8th in Waterloo. Tipoff is scheduled for 6pm.

Source: Guelph Sports Info

KINGSTON, Ont. - The Queen's Gaels (10-8) took control of the Royal Millitary College Paladins (0-18) this Saturday evening at the ARC. The final score of the game was 72-45.

The first quarter of action was close. The Gaels were only up by four at the break. In the second quarter the Gaels had a defensive spark, holding RMC to only 6 points and scoring 19 of their own. The second half was like the first, the Gaels extended their lead throughout to put the game out of reach for the Paladins. The final score of the game was 72-45.

The Gaels were again led by Brittany Moore of Hannon, Ont. who had a game-high 21 points and moved into fourth on the OUA all-time scoring list with 1,603 career points. Moore passed former RMC standout Jennifer Donofrio who had 1,602 and now sits only 21 points behind Jodie Ebeling (Brock) who sits third and 23 points behind Amanda Anderson (Western) for second all-time.

Rachael Urosevic of Waterloo, Ont. added 12 points for the Gaels going 4-7 from beyond the arc.

The Gaels are back in action next friday versus the University of Ottawa Gee Gees. Tipoff is set for 6:00 at the ARC.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

THUNDER BAY, ON - The women's basketball team completed a weekend sweep over the Waterloo Warriors, winning 70-58 on Saturday evening.

Saturday's match-up brought improved play from both teams' effort on Friday night. The result was an exciting game that featured several lead changes in the first half, which finally gave way to Lakehead breaking out in the third quarter to establish a lead they would not relinquish. Lacey McNulty was a big part of the second half charge, scoring 11 points in the 3rd quarter, the last of which was a bank-shot three ball from the right wing as time expired. McNulty finished the game with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Guards Kelsey Bardsley (Manchester, UK) and Ayse Kalkan (Winnipeg, MB) were Lakehead's top scorers, with 20 and 21 points, respectively. Both found their stroke from outside, as Bardsley went 5 for 10 from downtown, and Kalkan 2 of 4. Kalkan would also add 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals to her final stat line, and Bardsley dished out 6 assists.

Waterloo's leading scorer was Laura Bossers with 16 (4-of-5 from distance), and Colleen Quinlan had 13.

Coach Jon Kreiner:

"Tonight Waterloo did a great job against our posts and it was Kelsey Bardsley and Ayse Kalkan that needed to step up for us.  Lindsay Inkila also played her best game of the OUA season gathering 5 offensive rebounds, 4 assists and 0 turnovers and really played smart against Waterloo's press.  We are now in a playoff battle that can see us 4th-7th and we have to find a way to play more consistently for 40 minutes." 

With the win the women move to 9-9 on the season and are tied with McMaster and Western for 4th place in the OUA West.

Source: Lakehead Sports Info

The No. 6 nationally ranked Carleton University Ravens women’s basketball team edged the No. 5 uOttawa Gee-Gees 71-63 in a showdown that went the distance at the Ravens’ Nest Saturday night.

With six seconds to go, the Ravens surrendered a late lead to allow the Gee-Gees to tie the game up at 59 apiece.

But Carleton dominated in overtime, outscoring Ottawa 12-4 thanks in large part to Krista Van Slingerland (Waterloo, Ont.), who had nine points in the extra frame.

The Ravens led for long stretches of the first three quarters of the game with Alyson Bush (Ottawa) and Van Slingerland leading Carleton with eight points each after the first half of action. They took a 32-23 lead into halftime.

The Ravens struggled containing Hannah Sunley-Paisley (Toronto) as she dominated beneath the Ravens basket, racking up the points. She would finish with a game-high 26 points.

Gee-Gee Bess Lennox (Ottawa) had 11 points and 15 rebounds.

Van Slingerland paced the Ravens with 24 points.

With the win, Carleton snapped Ottawa’s 15-game win streak and improved to 13-5 for second place in the OUA East - two points ahead of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.

Carleton is next in action on the road against the RMC Paladins on Feb. 10. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

The Saskatchewan Huskies erased a 12 point deficit after three quarters to force overtime and came out on top defeating the Winnipeg Wesmen 70-66 Saturday evening at the Duckworth Centre in Winnipeg.

The no. 4 ranked Huskies trailed 49-37 after three quarters but outscored the Wesmen 20-8 in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 57-57 after regulation time.

Fifth year guard Katie Miyazaki led the Huskies with 15 points. Kabree Howard and Dalyce Emmerson each scored 12. Emmerson also grabbed 12 rebounds for the double-double. Kelsey Trulsrud also had a double-double consisting of 10 points and a game high 13 rebounds. Howard also dished out six assists.

Second year guard Stephanie Kleysen led Winnipeg with a game high 22 points. Alyssa Grant and Amy Ogidan each scored 16. Ogidan led the team in rebounds with 10. Kleysen also finished with three assists and four steals.

Winnipeg came out on fire in the opening quarter and held a 16-10 lead after the opening quarter and continued to outplay the Huskies in the second quarter by outscoring Saskatchewan 14-9 to take a 30-19 lead into the halftime break.

The Wesmen opened up the second half on a 9-2 run to extend their lead 39-21 four minutes into the third frame. Winnipeg continued to carry the play and maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the quarter.

Saskatchewan chipped away at the Wesmen lead in the early stages of the fourth quarter reeling off eight straight points in the opening three minutes to cut the Wesmen lead to 49-45. After an exchange of baskets, Kabree Howard drained a three pointer with 2:45 to tie the score at 53-53 and after a Winnipeg turnover a basket by Dalyce Emmerson gave the Huskies their first lead since the opening minute at 55-53. Alyssa Grant tied the game at 55-55 and after another exchange of baskets and a last second shot by Miyazaki hit the rim, the teams were headed for overtime.

The Huskies outscored the Wesmen 13-9 in the overtime period.

The win improves the Huskies record to 13-4. Winnipeg falls to 8-10. Saskatchewan will be home to Manitoba next weekend. Winnipeg will be on the road in Calgary to face the Dinos.

Source: Winnipeg Sports Info

LANGLEY, British Columbia – For the second night in a row, the Trinity Western women’s basketball team was bettered by visiting Thompson Rivers as the Spartans fell 76-58 Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.

Using a dominant second quarter, one in which the WolfPack outscored the Spartans 26-14, Thompson Rivers opened up a 12-point halftime lead and never looked back as it completed the weekend sweep in impressive fashion and kept its playoff hopes alive.

The WolfPack, who had five players with double-digit points, was led by Jen Ju, who had a game-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists, Diane Schuetze, who had 18 points and eight boards, and Jorri Duxbury, who had 10 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

The Spartans were led by Holly Strom, who had 18 points, three blocks and three rebounds, Tiffany Olsen, who had 14 points and four rebounds, and Laurelle Weigl, who had seven rebounds and six points.

The loss drops Trinity Western to 8-9 on the season while the win improves Thompson ivers to 7-9.

“It’s obviously a dissapointing loss for us,” said Spartans coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. “I think know the question we need to ask ourselves is who are we in this loss and how are we going to deal with overcoming and rebounding from it and how we’re going to approach the next game.

“We didn’t come with energy that we needed.It’s been an emotional week for us and I think that it was just a lot easier for us to not make as much of an effort as we needed. I’m proud of the fact we tried as hard as we could. It just wasn’t enough.

“On the positive side, Holly was able to refind her scoring touch, which will be important for us in the next game coming up. I think there were some little moments here and there where we tried hard but we just couldn’t get it done.”

In the first quarter, the Spartans got off to a much stronger start than they had the night before as they shot 44.4 per cent and were step for step with the WolfPack, who shot 41.7 per cent itself, throughout.

After a back and forth action start to the opening frame, the WolfPack opened started to roll late in the quarter as they earned four-point leads at 15-11 and thena again at 17-13. But the Spartans bigs got them back in it before the end of the quarter as Weigl scored off an under and up lay-in and Tiffany Olsen floated a right-handed shot in at the buzzer to tie it 17-17.

In the second quarter, Thompson Rivers pushed the pace as they it built a 29-23 lead after a Kaitlyn Widsten layup. The Spartans quickly responed with a 3-pointer from Emily Knuaff and a jumper from Strom to once again close the gap.

However, with the score 29-28 for the WolfPack, Thompson Rivers went on a game-turning 14-3 run to end the quarter. Thanks in large part to three 3-pointers down the stretch, two of which came from Ju and one from Widsten, the visitors opened a 12-point lead at halftime, 43-31.

Thompson Rivers was five for eight from beyond the arc in the second quarter alone.

Continuing their momentum from the second quarter, the WolfPack came out in the third and blew the game wide open.

Schuetze got the first bucket of the half and from there, Thompson Rivers went on the offensive, opening as much as a 21-point lead, 59-38.

Following back-to-back blocks from Strom, one on Ju and one on Schuetze, the Spartans gathered a bit of momentum late, ending the quarter with a 7-1 run, but still trailied 60-45 going to the fourth.

By the end of the third quarter, the WolfPack had three players with at least double-digits in points and were shooting 47.7 per cent from the field compared to the Spartans 34.0 per cent.

With full control of the contest, the WolfPack never gave Trinity Western a sniff in the fourth quarter as Thompson Rivers outscored the Spartans 16-13 in the final frame, taking the game by an 18-point margin.

The Spartans will play their final game of the Canada West regular season Feb. 9 when they host Fraser Valley at 6:00 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.

Game Notes – TRU outrebounded TWU 44-34…TRU finished seven for 15 from 3-point range while TWU was three for 10…TWU shot 34.4 per cent from the field while TRU shot 45.8 per cent…both teams had 12 turnovers.

Source: Trinity Western Sports Info

The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades women’s basketball team were defeated tonight by the CIS number three ranked UBC Thunderbirds, 60-58, at the Envision Athletic Centre.  The Cascades regular season record falls to 11-6, good for second place in the West Division of the Canada West conference.  The Thunderbirds record improves to 13-3, and first place in the West Division.  

Like last night the Thunderbirds came out strong and establish a lead but unlike last night, UFV stayed close from the start trailing only by four points after the first quarter.  In the second, UBC held the Cascades offense to nine points, while upping their lead to nine points at the break. UFV was led by Aieisha Luyken, Mission, BC, Sarah Wierks, Chilliwack, BC and Nicole Wierks, Chilliwack, BC all with 4 points.  Kayli Sartori, Chilliwack, BC led the Cascades with 5 total rebounds.  The Cascades shot 25% from the floor in the first half.

The second half was one of the most exciting halves in recent memory at the Envision Athletic Centre with UFV storming back in the third quarter to trail by two points going into the final quarter.  The lead changed hands numerous times in the fourth quarter as both teams hit key baskets to regain the lead, with two minutes remaining UFV had its largest lead of the night by four points, but UBC would not quit scoring two key baskets late to tie the game and when Zara Huntley, Halifax, NS was fouled with four tenths of a second left, she hit both free throws to give UBC the victory.

“Really gritty performance tonight. We knew UBC would come out with a strong effort and they really had us playing their game for the first 25 minutes. Mid-way through the 3rd we started to force the tempo a bit and we got ourselves right back in the game, giving ourselves for a win at the end,” said UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer.  “Tough call at the end, but ultimately the correct call with less than a second to play.”  

Tessa quote: just such a pro. Really going to miss her leadership and the personality she brings to our team. Her attention to detail is unparalleled, the example she set for our young player in our program will be her lasting legacy for many years to come.

UFV was led by Luyken with 15 points Tessa Klassen scored 9 points and recorded 6 assists.  Sartori led UFV with 8 total rebounds.  The Thunderbirds Huntley led all UBC players with a 15 point performance and 9 total boards as UBC out rebounded UFV 39 to 38 for the game. 

The Cascades say goodbye to Tessa Klassen, a fifth year guard from Winnipeg, Manitoba, who played in her final regular season game tonight at the Envision Athletic Centre.  Klassen had a brilliant Canada West career playing three years at the University of Manitoba for the Bisons and two at UFV with the Cascades.   

“Just such a professional, really going to miss her leadership and the personality she brings to our team. Her attention to detail is unparalleled, the example she set for our young player in our program will be her lasting legacy for many years to come,” said Tuchscherer about his starting guard.

Source: UFV Sports Info

The Heat's Roslyn Huber and the Vikes' Deborah Yebaoh went head to head with Huber winning the scoring battle, yet Yeboah's Vikes won the game 86-61 Saturday afternoon in Kelowna at UBC's Okanagan campus. Huber finished the game with 25 points while Yebaoh notched 21.

With the win the Vikes keep their playoff drive alive and move their record to .500 and sit at 8-8 on the season, while UBC Okanagan falls to 2-14 as they go into the final weekend of league play.

Yeboah scored 17 of her team high 21 in the first half, hitting 10-20 from the floor. Natalie Janssens was second on the team with 17 points on an efficient 8-9 from the floor. Janssens also led the Vikes in rebounding with 8.

For the Heat both Emily Kanester and Krystal Schouten were second to Huber in scoring with 8 points each. Schouten also hauled in a team high 7 boards.

The Vikes will now play a home and home with the first place Thunderbirds, and the Heat will battle the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in a home and home series as well; the TRU - UBC Okanagan games will go Saturday/Sunday.

Source: UBC Okanagan Sports Info