CONSOLATION #1 ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS women’s basketball championship: Pandas down Queen’s, will play for fifth on Sunday

Photo credit Edwin Tam

WINDSOR, Ont. (CIS) – Canada West all-star Andria Carlyon scored a team-leading 20 points, and the No. 7 Alberta Pandas recorded their first victory of the ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS women's basketball championship with a 67-55 triumph over the No. 6 Queen's Gaels in the consolation semi-finals on Saturday morning.

Carlyon shot 6-of-11 from the field, 8-of-9 from the free-throw line, and also recorded a game-high 13 rebounds to tally a double-double for the Pandas. Teammate Maddie Rogers added 11 points and eight boards for Alberta.

The Canada West bronze medallists, who fell to No. 2 Saint Mary’s in Friday’s opening round, will look to close out their national tournament with a winning record on Sunday afternoon when they play either No. 4 McGill or No. 8 Laurier at 3 p.m. in the fifth-place game, available live at www.cis-sic.tv. 

For the OUA finalists from Queen's and 32-year bench-boss Dave Wilson, their first CIS championship appearance in 10 seasons and third overall comes to a close with the loss. OUA West first-team all-star Liz Boag tallied a game-high 27 points, including six three-pointers, for the Gaels.

“I’m very proud of the kids, obviously the first quarter didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but they definitely responded and pulled themselves out the funk they were in since yesterday,” said Alberta head coach Scott Edwards. “They showed some real character today to come back from a first quarter deficit to a lead at half-time. The toughness they showed in the second half was really impressive.
 
“There are only three games in all of Canada tomorrow, and we get to play in one of them. You always want to finish your season on a win so that’s what we’ll play for tomorrow, because it would be good for this team if we could finish in the top 5 in the tournament. We’re obviously still very disappointed in our performance in the quarterfinals, but hopefully we can show our fans back home proud and earn one more win tomorrow.”

Carlyon followed two made free-throws with a lay-up to give the Pandas an early 7-3 advantage in the first. However, two straight three-pointers from Boag helped spark an 11-0 streak by the OUA finalists through the middle portion of the quarter to jump ahead, prompting a timeout from Alberta.

The Kingston, Ont. native then sank her fourth basket of the first from beyond the three-point line and Robyn Pearson's mid-range jumper following a Pandas turnover extended the streak to 17 before Saskia Van ginhoven finally snapped the Gaels run. Queen's garnered a 20-9 advantage after 10 minutes of play.

The intensity picked up early in the second quarter as the Pandas were called for charging on back-to-back possessions. However, Alberta persevered as Carlyon sank a tough bucket while taking a foul to cut the lead back to single-digits. The Dapp, Alb. native picked up a steal off Queen's on their next possession, leading to two converted foul shots from Kelly Lyons.

Boag drained yet another three soon after to push the Gaels lead back to 10. However, the Pandas put together their own five-point run to come within striking distance at the mid-point of the second.

Rogers completed the first-half comeback with a three off a nice pass from Renee Byrne, capping off an offensive explosion for Alberta in the quarter to even the game at 29-29. Byrne then nailed a long three from well beyond the top of the line, and the Pandas grabbed a 33-29 lead going into the half-time break.

Boag recorded a first-half high of 17 points, while Carlyon tallied 10 for the Pandas.

Alberta extended its lead to eight and held onto that spread through the majority of the third quarter. Megan Vande Kraats picked up consecutive blocks, stymieing the Gaels offence which slowed considerably in the middle two stanzas of the contest, totalling just 19 points in the second and third quarters.

Coming out of a Queen's timeout, Vande Kraats caught fire, notching three straight baskets to extend Alberta's lead to 14 late in the third. The Pandas took a 53-39 lead into the final quarter.

Boag attempted to keep her team close, picking up six points in the opening two minutes of the fourth. Sarah Saftich picked up a corner three to bring the Gaels within 11 halfway through the final period.

However, a critical block followed by a rebound from Carlyon helped keep the Queen's offence at bay while Alberta continued to maintain a healthy spread into the final minutes of regulation and onto the win.

The Pandas shot 45.2% in the second half and 37.9% overall, while Queen's finished with a 30.3% efficiency. Alberta also controlled the glass-game, pulling down 51 rebounds compared to 35 from the Gaels.

“Certainly we got emotion going in the first quarter and that gave us the lead and the momentum to get a run on them. Then later with fouls coming it stopped the flow of the game for us, which also put us in significant foul trouble, so that was really tough to have that momentum taken away,” said Queen’s coach Dave Wilson. “I couldn’t be more proud of the progression that this group has made this season and the effort that they put it.”

STAT LEADERS

ALB 9-24-20-14: 67
QNS 20-9-10-16: 55

Alberta
Points: Andria Carlyon (20), Maddie Rogers (11), Renee Byrne (10)
Rebounds: Andria Carlyon (13), Megan Vande Kraats (9)
Assists: Jessilyn Fairbanks (5)

Player of the game: Maddie Rogers

Queen’s
Points: Liz Boag (27), Robyn Pearson (9), Jenny Wright (7)
Rebounds: Liz Boag (5), Robyn Pearson (5), Jenny Wright (5)
Assists: Jenny Wright (5)

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: No. 8 Wilfrid Laurier vs. No. 4 McGill (www.CIS-SIC.tv) 
15:00 Semifinal 1: No. 2 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 3 Saskatchewan (Sportsnet 360 / www.CIS-SIC.tv *) 
17:00 Semifinal 2: No. 1 Windsor vs. No. 5 Fraser Valley (Sportsnet 360 / www.CIS-SIC.tv *) 

Sunday, March 16
15:00 5th Place: No. 7 Alberta vs. TBD (www.CIS-SIC.tv) 
17:00 Bronze (www.CIS-SIC.tv) 
20:00 Final (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

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