CIS women's basketball Saturday roundup

Source: Bill Malley, McMaster Sports Info

The McMaster women's basketball team got 30 points from freshman phenom Danielle Boiago and defeated the Brock Badgers 73-67 in the OUA West Division semi-finals in St. Catharines.

The Marauders led for almost the entire game holding a 26-16 lead after one quarter and up 40-37 at the half.

Brock clawed its way back to get with one point at 68-67, but Boiago drained a trey with 30.1 secondS left to make it a two possession ion game, and then hit two late free throws to clinch the win after Brock failed twice to score.

Along with Boiago's 30, McMaster got 16 points from Hailey Milligan, 11 from Vanessa Bonomo and 10 from Liz Burns.

McMaster moves on to the West division final versus either Windsor or Western.

Source: Adam Ali, Windsor Sports Info

WINDSOR, Ont.- Five different players hit double-digits, as the Windsor Lancers women's basketball team kicked off their 2013 post-season in dominating fashion, disposing of Western 78-50 in the OUA West Semi-Final, presented by Investors Group, on Saturday evening at the St. Denis Centre.

Korissa Williams topped the Lancers with 15 points, while Jessica Clemencon dropped 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double.  Miah-Marie Langlois added 14 points, five rebounds and a game-best five assists in the victory.

Clemencon picked up four points before threading a pass through to Andrea Kiss for an open lay-up, as the Lancers took a 10-6 lead midway through the first.  The St. Rambert, France native then took a feed from Langlois (Windsor) off a fast-break, putting the women up 14-6 and leading to a Western timeout.  The defending national champions didn't let up as the first quarter came to a close.  Laura Mullins (Windsor) sank a three, and Clemencon knocked in her 10th point of the period as Windsor took a 23-8 lead into the second.

The Lancers continued their dominance in the second quarter, smoothly spreading the lead to 25 throughout the final 10 minutes before the half.  Jocelyn LaRocque (Windsor) dropped two three's, while the Mustangs offence dried up, as the visitors scored just seven points in the period, more than half of which came from conference scoring leader Jenny Vaughan.  Another long-ranger from Williams (Windsor) gave the Lancers a 40-15 lead at the break.

Clemencon already secured a double-double through 20 minutes of play, tallying 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead all players.

The No. 1 Lancers showed no signs of relaxing at the start of the second half, going on an 11-4 run that ended with two straight steals and ensuing lay-ups by Kovacevic (Windsor) and Langlois respectively.  Laura Dally notched a three-point play coming out of a Mustangs timeout, picking up the bucket and the harm.  The Mustangs put together a better offense in the third but were unable to get back into the game as the Lancers continued rolling.  With the contest well in-hand by the final quarter, Coach Vallee chose to rest her starters, and the Mustangs took a small bite out of the deficit.

Windsor advances to the OUA West Final which they will host next Saturday evening at the St. Denis centre.  Their opponents will be the third-seeded McMaster Marauders, who picked up a 73-67 upset over the No. 8 ranked Brock Badgers in St. Catharines, Ont.

There were two meetings in the regular season between the two teams.  Windsor scored a close 56-48 in Hamilton on January 16, but recorded a 74-56 win at home over the Marauders one week later.  The winner will take on the East division champion in the OUA Finals in two weeks time.

Windsor and McMaster will tip-off for the West division title at 7:00 p.m. 

The Lancers improve to 19-2 in post-season play since 2010.  Their only two losses came in the 2010 CIS finals against Simon Fraser and in last year's conference championship against Ottawa.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

OTTAWA - With a first round bye, the Gee-Gees were well rested when they tipped-off versus the Queen’s University Gaels on Saturday night. The Gaels were fresh off a first round upset versus a young Ryerson Rams squad. However, the Gee-Gees proved to be simply too much for the Gaels as they cruised to an easy 72-44 victory.

After exchanging the lead twice in the first quarter the Gee-Gees blew the game open in the second quarter thanks to strong defence which limited to Gaels to only 20 points after two quarters.

Kayte Chase and Kim Cupid played an important role defensively for Ottawa as they were used to pressure the Gaels offence and push turnovers. Ottawa was able to force 21 turnovers and allowed Queen’s to shoot only 28.8 per cent in the game. Queen’s leading scoring Liz Boag was held to only two points in the game and 0-for-16 shooting. 

It was more of the same in the second half as the Gee-Gees buried the Gaels and did not let up until the dying seconds. With the win, the Gee-Gees will host the OUA East championship next Saturday at Monpetit Hall.

“I think we did a pretty good job tonight, we were able to take them out of their game plan and limit them to only forty points. That was huge,” said head coach Andy Sparks. “It was nice to have a team effort and see everyone contribute because that shows that we are moving forward as a group.”

Jenna Gilbert led all Gee-Gees in scoring with 18 points, four rebounds and three blocks. Alyska Lukan also contributed well as she recorded 14 points and four rebounds.

“It was important for us to step it up and have a good start. We played strong on defence. To tell you the truth I think this game is a sign of what we have in store for the playoffs and that we are pumped up for next game,” said fifth year forward Alyska Lukan.

Source: Victoria Sports Info

VICTORIA – The University of Victoria Vikes women’s basketball team’s season came to an abrupt hault, Feb. 23, as the No. 2 Regina Cougars hung on for a 68-66 victory in Game 2 of the Canada West best-of-three series to advance to the Canada West Final Four next weekend. Vikes fifth-year Debbie Yeboah (Winnipeg, MB) carried the Vikes on her back with a sensational fourth-quarter performance to finish her final career game with 24 points.
 
For the Cougars, Brittany Read was stellar with 16 points, while Danielle Schmidt has 12 points and 12 rebounds to secure the game’s lone double-double. Lindsay Ledingham also broke into double figures with 10 points for Regina. The fifth-year also pulled down eight rebounds.
 
Though their season comes to a close, the Vikes women did not go down with a fight. Yeboah closed her five-year career out leading all players with 24 points and grabbibg a team-high eight rebounds. Jenny Lewis (Fall River, NS) was 7-for-8 from the field – including a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range – and scored 19 in 22 minutes off the bench for the Vikes.
 
“We battled hard tonight and you can feel a little bit better about things when you play hard like that and give it your all,” said associate Vikes coach Dani Sinclair, whose team graduates both Yeboah and forward Chelsea McMullen. “Debbie has been our leader all year and she carried us on her back at the end there. She hit some great shots and Regina didn’t have an answer for her. She has been an unbelieveable part of our program and did everything she could. Things didn’t fall our way tonight.”
 
The two teams were tied 13-13 after a lot-scoring first quarter and the Cougars took a 30-27 lead into a first half in which the two teams were never separated by more than five points.
 
The Cougars went on a 6-0 run in the latter portions of the third quarter to build up a 12-point advantage, the largest of the game for either team. But the Vikes responded with an 8-0 run of their own to get the deficit down to four heading into the fourth.
 
Victoria continued the momentum into the fourth, taking the lead for the first time since the second quarter after a Yeboah jumper from the paint two minutes into the period. The two teams traded punches down the stretch, with Yeboah hitting a pair of free throws to tie the game back up with a minute remaining. Regina’s Read extended the ensuing possession with an offensive rebound off her own miss and then hit a layup that put the Cougars up for good with 27 seconds left.
 
The Cougars forced a missed shot on the ensuing possession and Victoria had to foul four times before Michelle Clark finally went to the line with seven seconds left. Clark hit both free throws to make it a two-possession game, and all a late Lewis bucket at the buzzer could do was to bring Victoria to within two.
 
The Cougars were pushed to a final score of 68-66, dropping the Vikes out of their Canada West run. The Cougars will now advance to the Canada West Final Four, Mar. 1-2, hosted at the University of Calgary.
 
“For eight of our girls it was their very first playoff game so, to be apart of a game like tonight’s game is a great experience for them,” added Sinclair who bounced this year’s team back from an 8-10 record in 2011-12. “Losing a game like that can be great motivation for teams and players to come back motivated to train through the summer and play next year.”
 
For the Vikes, the squad will graduate both Yeboah and McMullen but return three of their starting five including Jessica Renfrew (Victoria, BC), Cassandra Goodis (Penticton, BC) and rookie Jenna Bugiardini (Hamilton, ON).

Source: Lindsay Franco, Calgary Sports Info

CALGARY – The Dinos punched their ticket to the Canada West women’s basketball Final Four next weekend with a 79-66 win over Thompson Rivers on Saturday night at Jack Simpson Gymnasium.

Thanks to Alberta’s win over UBC on Saturday night, as well as a plethora of tie breakers, the Dinos clinched the semifinal home game and will host the entire Final Four series at Jack Simpson Gymnasium.

Jessica Franz was a standout for the Dinos on the night, scoring a team-high 21 points. Point guard Megan Schaufele also had a successful night for Calgary, scoring 16 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and adding four assists. Tamara Jarrett and Ashley Hirons both scored about ten points each.

For the WolfPack, Diane Schuetze ended her career with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds. Tracy Kocs was the only player on the court to record a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

In a fast paced first quarter, the Dinos held a slight lead after ten minutes by a score of 21-18. The second quarter continued to be a close game with both teams generating offence. Thompson Rivers got within one at 27-26, but from then on the Dinos pulled away when Franz turned up the heat down low.

A three-pointer from Schaufele later on gave the Dinos the ten-point lead with two minutes remaining in the quarter. Excellent defence was demonstrated on both ends  Calgary headed into half time up 42-35.

The fourth quarter saw the WolfPack outscore the Dinos, but it wouldn’t be enough for them to overtake the lead, and Calgary confirmed their spot at the Final Four with a 79-66 quarter-final win.

With the win, the Dinos will play the Alberta Pandas at 6 p.m. at Jack Simpson Gymnasium, followed by the second Canada West women’s basketball semifinal at 8 p.m. between the Regina Cougars and the Fraser Valley Cascades.

Source: Blake Murphy, UBC Sports Info

VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds wouldn't go quietly, but saw their season end on Saturday night, losing 67-64 in overtime to the Alberta Pandas.
 
Sensing their season on the line, UBC hung tough with the Pandas throughout the game. Down three points with just five seconds to play, Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC) found Zana Williams (Vancouver, BC) in the left corner for a game-tying three, sending the game into overtime.
 
In the extra frame, though, a few costly turnovers and an unfavorable possession arrow on the final jump-ball call kept the Thunderbirds from extending the series to a third game.

"I thought down the stretch we got outplayed," said head coach Deb Huband, whose team had three turnovers and shot just 2-of-8 in the extra frame.
 
Alberta leveraged a 42-32 rebounding advantage, getting contributions on the glass from all five starters. Anneka Baker led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Katie Arbuthnot added 16 and seven, respectively, though she shot just 7-of-19.
 
For UBC, third-year leader Young did a bit of everything to try and keep her team in the game, including carrying the scoring load. Young poured in 29 points on 24 field goal attempts, adding six rebounds, four assists, four steals and a pair of blocks. It was a fitting final performance for Young's season, as she's been the epitome of versatility all season for the Thunderbirds.
 
Fifth-year Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC) also played well in her final game as a Thunderbird, scoring 14 points with eight rebounds. Stansfield was muscled down low but fought through the tough Pandas frontline to shoot 6-of-10.

"She always did her best to be a leader on and off the floor," Huband said of Stansfield's career.
 
As a team, though, UBC struggled on offense. They shot 41% and hit just 2-of-13 from long range, eliminating an effective part of their game. Defensively, they held the Pandas to 42% shooting and kept them off the free throw line, but despite forcing 21 turnovers lost the ball control battle. UBC's 23 turnovers were indicative more of the physical nature of the game than any particularly sloppy play on either side.
 
Both teams expected a tough game, and it was evident from the start when the game's first possession ended in a jump ball. From there, the teams battled hard at both ends, with bodies hitting the floor for loose balls and girls crashing the glass hard. Both teams clearly sensed their seasons in the balance.
 
The 14-8 Pandas will now move on to the Canada West semi-finals. The Thunderbirds, who finished the regular season 17-5 and were hoping for at least a semi-final berth, are left looking ahead to next year.
 
The future is bright for Huband's program, as she'll lose just one player in Stansfield this year. Still, next year is a while away, and for now the Thunderbirds are left thinking about what could have been, having lost their two quarterfinal games by a combined margin of just seven points.