Photo credit Rob Weitzel http://www.sportsshooter.ca
REGINA, Sask. (CIS) – The University of Calgary Dinos
booked a return engagement with the Windsor Lancers in the national
semi-final Friday afternoon, upending the Carleton University
Ravens 59-51 in the second quarterfinal at the 2013 CIS
Women’s Basketball Final 8.
The fifth-seeded Dinos will take on the defending champion and
top-seeded Lancers in the first semi-final Saturday night at 5 p.m.
It’s the second straight year the Dinos and Lancers will meet
in the second round, with Windsor taking last year’s contest
81-71 on the Dinos’ home floor in Calgary en route to a
second straight Bronze Baby.
The Ravens are relegated to the B-side of the draw and will face
No. 8 seed Ottawa in the consolation semi-final Saturday at 1
p.m.
The Dinos managed to hang on for the win despite giving up 30
offensive rebounds to the Ravens and losing the overall battle on
the glass by a whopping 54-33 margin. Carleton put up 72 attempts
from the field against only 48 for Calgary, but the Ravens could
only muster a 25 per cent efficiency from the field.
Calgary won the game from long range, shooting 8-for-20 from
three-point land against 4-for-19 outside shooting by the
Ravens.
It was a slow start for the Dinos, who didn’t record their
first field goal until a three from Kristie Sheils nearly six
minutes into the game – a sign of things to come. Sheils hit
a total of four treys on the afternoon, with the final three coming
in the fourth quarter with the game still very much in doubt as the
Ravens had whittled Calgary’s 13-point lead down to just
three.
The 14-point effort by the second-year guard from Elsemere Port,
England was enough to earn her player-of-the game honours for the
Dinos.
Her first bomb from outside sparked the Calgary offence, which
overcame a six-point deficit midway through the first quarter to
take a 16-12 lead after the first 10 minutes. The first five points
of the second quarter extended the Calgary run to 16-3, and at the
half the Dinos held a 34-25 lead.
Carleton roared back in the third, holding Calgary to just 11
points and three field goals while closing the gap to just five
points, setting the stage for Sheils’ heroics in the
fourth.
“I don’t know if it was nerves, but the looks that we
had just weren’t dropping early on,” said Dinos head
coach Damian Jennings of his team’s slow start. We’re a
team that can create momentum for ourselves very quickly, but we
have trouble putting teams over the edge of the cliff.”
The tandem of Lindsay Shotbolt and Ellizabeth Roach accounted for
much of Carleton’s offence, with the two combining for 24
points and 14 offensive rebounds. Roach’s 15 points on the
afternoon led all players, while Shotbolt picked up 13 rebounds
– eight of which came on the offensive glass.
Jessica Franz matched that 13-board total for the Dinos, chipping
in with five points. Ashley Hirons added a dozen points for the
Dinos as she dialed it up from long range, while Alex Cole
contributed 11 points.
The upstart Dinos now face the challenge of knocking off the
two-time defending national champions when they face the mighty
Windsor Lancers in Saturday’s semi-final.
“We knew making the final four that there would be some tough
teams to face,” said Jennings. We’re excited about the
victory - who wouldn’t want to play Windsor in the
semi-final?
“(Windsor and Carleton) are two different teams, to be
honest, and all seven other teams in this competition are
excellent. Ottawa held its own for about 31 minutes today. Windsor
doesn’t have fun against pressure, and that’s what we
do.”
“It’s going to be a challenge,” added Sheils,
“but any game that we have here is going to be hard. We have
to do our stuff and not worry too much about them.”
LINE SCORE
CGY: 16-18-11-14: 59
CAR: 12-13-15-11: 51
STAT LEADERS
Calgary
Points: Kristie Sheils (14)
Rebounds: Jessica Franz (13)
Assists: Megan Schaufele (4)
Carleton
Points: Elizabeth Roach (15)
Rebounds: Lindsay Shotbolt (13)
Assists: Kendall MacLeod (3)
SCHEDULE &
RESULTS (ALL TIMES MDT)
FRIDAY, MAR. 15
1:00 - Quarter-final #1: Windsor 56, Ottawa 46
3:00 - Quarter-final #2: Calgary 59, Carleton 51
6:30 - Quarter-final #3: Regina vs. McGill
8:30 - Quarter-final #4: Saint Mary's vs. Fraser Valley
SATURDAY, MAR. 16
1:00 - Consolation semifinal #1: Carleton vs. Ottawa
3:00 - Consolation semifinal #2: TBA
5:00 - Semifinal #1: Windsor vs. Calgary
7:00 - Semifinal #2: TBA
SUNDAY, MAR. 17
11:00 - 5th place: TBA
1:00 - 3rd place: TBA
4:00 - Championship: TBA
-CIS-