BRONZE ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS women’s basketball championship: Cascades claim first-ever CIS medal

WINDSOR, Ont. (CIS) – Kaylie Sartori notched a team-high 13 points and the fifth-seeded Fraser Valley Cascades earned their first-ever CIS medal by defeating the No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies 69-57 in the bronze-medal game at the ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS women's basketball championship on Sunday afternoon at the St. Denis Centre.

Sartori also grabbed nine rebounds while Courtney Bartel scored 12 points for the Cascades, who avenged a 67-56 defeat to the Huskies in the Canada West finals and earn a top-three finish in their second appearance at the CIS Final 8 tournament. UFV finished tied for seventh in their only other appearance at the national championships in 2013.

“I’m just really proud of the squad and we played our best basketball of the season this weekend,” said UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer. “We had the opportunity to play three top quality programs and just had a great experience in Windsor. I’m really happy for our seniors, it’s such an awesome way for them to finish.”

Saskatchewan, whose best result was a silver medal on the St. Denis Centre court back in 2011, finish fourth in their sixth national championship appearance over the last seven years. Kiera Lyons and Dalyce Emmerson recorded 18 and 16 points respectively in the loss.

The top teams in the Canada West conference traded baskets through the first five minutes of the contest with FVU garnering a 7-6 lead at the 5:22 mark. The evenly-matched play continued for the rest of the opening quarter as both squads shot an identical 35.7% (5-of-14) from the floor. Lyons scored seven of her team's first 13 points in the period, including two three-point baskets, helping the Huskies to a 13-12 lead at the onset of the second.

Kelsey Trulsrud made a great defensive play with just under seven minutes to play in the half, leaping to steal a Cascades pass and finding an open teammate to arc a pass to before she fell out of bounds. Back-to-back running jumpers by Lyons gave Saskatchewan a three-point lead soon after, but two foul shots by Sarah Wierks and a baseline jumper by Aieisha Luyken helped Fraser Valley keep pace.

UFV took over the lead late in the half but a timely three by Kabree Howard brought the Huskies even. Both squads heated up in the final minutes of the second, and a final three-pointer by Sartori gave UFV a 30-27 lead after two quarters of play.

Lyons was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first half and led all players with 16 points while Sartori topped the Cascades with eight.

After Riley Humbert quickly evened the game, Nataliia Gavryliuk responded with a second three less than a minute into the second-half to restore Fraser Valley's lead. UFV went on to score 10 straight points in the middle portion of the third, ending with a three from Bartel to take a nine-point lead. After Antoinette Miller broke Saskatchewan's scoreless streak, the Chilliwack, B.C. native drained another, totalling nine points in the third to help the Cascades take a commanding 55-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Emmerson recorded a lay-up bucket and the Huskies scored the first six points of the final stanza to bring the deficit down to single-digits. Trulsrud made a strong penetration for the lay-up bucket to help spur Saskatchewan's comeback bid, but UFV responded by making four straight free-throws and getting baskets from Gavryliuk and Kaitlyn Brink to hold an 11-point lead at the 4:02 mark.

The Huskies were unable to take a significant bite out of the Cascades healthy lead, allowing Fraser Valley to earn their first CIS bronze medal in program history. The Canada West rivals finished the game with an equal 35.9% shooting efficiency while UFV out-rebounded Saskatchewan 47-39.

STAT LEADERS

UFV 12-18-25-14: 69
SSK 13-14-13-17: 57

Fraser Valley
Points: Kaylie Sartori (13), Courtney Bartel (12), Nataliia Gavryliuk (9)
Rebounds: Kaylie Sartori (9), Sarah Wierks (7)
Assists: Aieisha Luyken (5)

Player of the game: Kaylie Sartori

Saskatchewan
Points: Kiera Lyons (18), Dalyce Emmerson (16), Riley Humbert (7)
Rebounds: Kelsey Trulsrud (9), Dalyce Emmerson (6)
Assists: Kabree Howard (4)

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times EASTERN TIME)

Friday, March 14
13:00 Quarter-final 1: Saint Mary’s 71, Alberta 51
15:00 Quarter-final 2: Saskatchewan 61, Queen’s 52
18:00 Quarter-final 3: Windsor 81, Wilfrid Laurier 53
20:00 Quarter-final 4: Fraser Valley 74, McGill 60

Saturday, March 15
10:00 Consolation 1: Alberta 67, Queen’s 55
12:00 Consolation 2: McGill 58, Wilfrid Laurier 51
15:00 Semifinal 1: Saint Mary’s 67, Saskatchewan 54
17:00 Semifinal 2: Windsor 65, Fraser Valley 45

Sunday, March 16
15:00 5th Place: McGill 70, Alberta 56
17:00 Bronze: Fraser Valley 69, Saskatchewan 57
20:00 Final: No. 2 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 1 Windsor (Sportsnet 360 / www.CIS-SIC.tv *) 

* The webcast of all 3 televised games (semifinals & final) will be on pay-per-view basis.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 55 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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