March 9, 2012

CIS: Lancers advance to East Regional final with win over Cape Breton

OTTAWA (CIS) – It was a game budding with potential – two of the top five offenses in the country, the defending national champion Lancers facing the defending national bronze medalist Capers in a do-or-die match with a potential berth to the national championships on the line. After an exciting and deciding fourth quarter it would be the Lancers who proved to have the energy and drive in tonight’s 83-70 win over the Capers.

The first quarter opened with the high tempo you would expect from two teams that have tasted success at the national level. But along with the energy came an equally high number of turnovers by both teams, keeping the score close with a slim two point margin in Windsor’s favour after ten minutes of play.

Windsor opened the second quarter with 14 unanswered points, setting themselves up with a comfortable double digit lead over the Capers, which they would maintain deep into the second half.

After a notable lag in the momentum in the third quarter, the Capers regained their fire for the final frame giving their fans in Montpetit Hall a reason to cheer. With their three-point perimeter shooting suddenly finding its mark, the Capers, led by Cassie Cooke chipped away at the Lancers’ lead to come within four points in the final four minutes.

Though tested, Windsor found an answer and emerged from the Caper’s fourth quarter flurry with a double digit lead once again, claiming the win thanks large in part to ace free throw shooting from Jessica Clemencon down the stretch.

Windsor dominated the boards throughout the game, with 52 total rebounds compared to the Capers’ 32 boards. Player of the game for Windsor, Clemencon led the Lancers in scoring with a high 30 points, a number exceeded only by her 32 point performance in their earlier playoff win over Carleton.

Second in the CIS in scoring in the regular season, Cooke led the Capers comeback effort with 29 points and teammate Jahlica Kirnon chipped in for 13 points. Cooke was named player of the game for Cape Breton.

“We really focused on going out there and wanting to win. We were playing afraid to lose last Saturday [in the OUA final], and we wanted to be in attack mode [tonight], which is a mental switch,” said Lancers’ head coach Chantal Vallée. “For us it was one game at a time, we wanted to go out there and this not be our last game. We were more ourselves [tonight] and we’re happy to be playing tomorrow.”

The Lancers will face either Fraser Valley or Ottawa in tomorrow’s CIS East Regional championship at 6:00 p.m. to hopefully solidify their berth to the 2012 CIS Championships.

STAT LEADERS

Boxscore: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wbkb/2011-12/schedule

Scoring per quarter:

CBU 16-15-11-28: 70

WSR 18-26-21-18: 83

Cape Breton

Points: Cassie Cooke (29), Jahlica Kirnon (13), Vicki Thistle (11)

Rebounds: Stephanie Toxopeus (7), Vicki Thistle (6)

Assists: Jahlica Kirnon (3), Vicki Thistle (2), Cassie Cooke (2)

Player of the game: Cassie Cooke

Windsor

Points: Jessica Clemencon (30), Miah-Marie Langlois (13), Bojana Kovacevic (12)