CIS Women's Basketball Preview: OUA rivals closing gap on defending champion Lancers

By Wayne Kondro
Special to CIS

Credit Windsor coach Chantal Vallée with elevating the bar in Ontario University Athletics women's basketball.

Much as Carleton's Dave Smart made it compulsory for OUA men's coaches to recruit harder and spend 49 hours per week watching tape to identify mismatches, Vallée's run to five consecutive Canadian Interuniversity Sport crowns, coupled with the advent of the province's juvenile development league, a few more scholarship dollars and occasionally upgraded facilities, has completely changed the dynamic on the distaff side of the game in Ontario.

But Vallée may be about to discover that you reap what you sow, as the old adage goes, so have a little compassion for her poor nerves as the Lancers make their bid for six consecutive crowns when CIS conducts its 45th national women's draw at the University of New Brunswick in March.

With graduation forcing Vallée into the position of having to manufacture a backcourt, she's about to discover that a whole passel of her rivals have been grinding away behind the scenes and stockpiling their rosters, and now stand poised to start avenging some of those double-digit spankings that Miah-Marie Langlois, Korissa Williams, Jessica Clemencon and company administered over the past few years.

The Lancers are probably still the league favorites but there's about a snowball's chance in Florida that they'll skate through their schedule with just a loss or two. If they do, just mail in the ballots for coach of the year.

They're proven winners and have the experience, says Guelph's Christin Dickenson. "You can't fake that. They've been through it before."

For her part, Vallée appears elated over the conference's improvement. "There's no doubt that the strength of Canada has now moved into the OUA. That's terrific for our league. In order to win the nationals, you need to play in a strong league."

Cheyanne Roger, Andrea Kiss and Emily Provost anchor Windsor's powerful, veteran front-line. Over the course of a difficult preseason schedule, Vallée experimented with a variety of options at the guard spots, including returnees Caitlyn Longmuir and Carly Steer, Guelph transfer Erica McFadden and rookies Alyssa Cerino and Tyra Blizzard, daughter of former uOttawa coach Fabienne Blizzard. Ultimately, though, Vallée expects Tel-Aviv, Israel-product Orian Amsalem to eventually start at the point, and Michigan junior college product Kashawnna Sampson at the off-guard spot, once they're healthy.

The up-side of the experimentation is a passel of newcomers got exposure to the Windsor way, Vallée says. "We have more new players than returning players and for a while, our focus has been to ensure that the winning culture and team culture of who we are, remains."

Having tested their mettle, Vallée adds, winning another national title "is difficult but not impossible."

Nipping at the Lancer heels are a pack of covetous foes, including McMaster, Ryerson, Queen's, Ottawa, Brock, Western, Carleton and Guelph.

Few teams could absorb the loss of an athlete of the calibre of Vanessa Pickard other than McMaster. Although the St. Francis Xavier transfer appears to have torn an ACL late in the preseason, the Marauders will still be a contender for national honours because of a deep battery of options, including all-star Danielle Biaggio, all-rookie selection Hilary Hanaka, post Claire Kenney, guard Rachael Holmes and forward Linnea Harper, a member of the 2014 junior women's national team that won a silver medal at the FIBA Americas tournament in Colorado Springs.

Solid post play will be critical to a run at a national title, says interim coach Anne Marie Thuss. "If you don't have good post play, defences can kind of pick and choose what they want to defend and take away, so that makes it harder for offences. ... And that'll take the pressure of our guards."

The Ryerson Rams return all-stars Keneca Pengue-Giles and Maria Nunes, as well as Sofia Paska, Silvana Jez and Cara Tiemens, while adding point guard McKenzie Sigurdson, a transfer from Carleton who was an OUA East all-rookie selection in 2014. "We're tough at every position," coach Carly Clarke notes. Add deep. They have solid back-ups at every position, along with a legitimate post presence, an essential condition for national success, in the form of the powerful Paska.

But they'll no longer be flying under the radar. National contenders, as a rule, get everyone's best shot. They can't take a night off, even against bottom-feeders. "We've got to be at our best every night. And we have to make sure that we're recognizing, as a team, who's having good nights for us. That's what can make us special. It can be a lot of different people, in different games," Clarke says.

Queen's coach Dave Wilson will likely spend the year salivating over the arrival of super-recruit Bridget Mulholland, who captained Ontario to a gold medal at the juvenile nationals this past summer and who turned down offers from the ilk of Indiana, Villanova, Seton Hall and Virginia Tech to join the Gaels in 2017. Until then, he'll have to be content with a skilled and seasoned unit led by point guard Emily Hazlett (who is deferring shoulder surgery until after the season), off-guard Abby Dixon, wing Jenny Wright, and posts Andrea Priamo and Robyn Pearson. Depth will be provided by point Marianne Alarie and posts Maddie Morris and Myriam Fontaine.

The Gaels tuned-up for the campaign by touring Spain and Wilson is convinced that "we have the pieces. It's a question of whether we can put the brain connection together with those pieces."

On paper, the uOttawa Gee-Gees are a darkhouse contender, provided they stop holding their team gatherings in local surgical recovery wards. Former national junior team point guard Kellie Ring has been in and out of the line-up with an array of knee injuries for years and is now sidelined by a concussion, as is wing Krista Van Slingerland. Forward Catherine Traer missed most of last season following hip surgery, as did post Katherine Lemoine after wrecking her shoulder. But both are back, while athletic wings Sarah Besselink and Danielle Marion are nearing the end of their recoveries from ACL surgery.

Only guard Julia Soriano appears immune to the injury bug and if the Gee-Gees ever get everyone back at the same time, they could be a force, despite the graduation of all-star Stephanie MacDonald. The one upside of all the injuries is that a lot of younger Gee-Gees have gotten a chance to develop their games, says Gee-Gees coach Andy Sparks. "I think we have enough play in each of the positions but it's still got to fit together."

Brock has had an impressive preseason (including beating Saint Mary's, which beat Windsor) while starting Melissa Tatti, Jenalyn Yumol, Kayla Santilli, Kira Cornelissen and Aryn Finley. But expect Kate Harpur to work her way back into the line-up once she's fully recovered from her three concussions. Added depth will come from Becky Ralph, a former starter who's recovering from a shoulder injury.

"The depth and the balance that we have is a luxury that helps us," said Badgers coach Si Khounviseth.

The Guelph Gryphons clawed toward respectability in the second year of former OUA player of the year Dickenson's tenure at the helm but whether the rebuilding team is ready to make the leap to title contender is uncertain. They fell short against a murderer's row of national contenders in preseason play (losing to Saskatchewan, McMaster and Ryerson) but have the luxury of three quality fifth-year players in all-star Katherine MacTavish, Barbara Inrig-Pieterse and Dana Van Balkom.

Add to that the jewel in the crown in the form of OUA rookie of the year Bridget Atkinson, who toiled at the point for the junior national team that captured 7th place at the Under-19 Worlds in Chekhov, Russia, though she's been in-and-out of the Gryphons line-up with injuries. Among five promising rookies is 6-0 Hamilton St. Thomas More product Abbey Clark. There's certainly enough talent on board for Guelph to shed the underdog tag, provided they get all on the same page.

"We're just trying to crack that bubble," says Dickenson. "It really comes down to: are you putting in the work?"

The Western Mustangs have been starting 2nd-team all-star guard Caroline Wolynski, Mackenzie Puklicz, rookie 6-1 post Julia Curran, and some combination of Victoria Heine, Maddy Horst, Meredith McLeod and Alex Van Heeswyk over the course of the preseason.

"At some time in the future, we're going to be in the conversation. I couldn't tell you whether it's going to be this year or next year," says coach Brian Cheng, who won a CIS title with Victoria in 2003 and who forecasts Curran will make a run at OUA rookie laurels. "She has tremendous feel and touch."

Carleton will again be a factor because coach Taffe Charles invariably has his troops defending and rebounding, though the days of grinding out dreary 46-43 wins may be over as the Ravens keep developing some offensive firepower. Second-team all-star forward Lindsay Shotbolt won't have recovered from ACL surgery until December but when she returns, she'll join a line-up that could also feature 6-4 post Heather Lindsay, 6-1 Elizabeth Leblanc, a savvy passer, 6-1 Lindsey Suprunchuk and slasher Nicole Gilmore.

None of those are a point guard, however, leaving Charles to again rely on 5-3 Abeer Farhat, who'll never win a sprint, or a rookie, 5-5 Alexandra Trivieri, to get the Ravens into their offence. The St. Catharines product's foot speed should be an asset, he says. "If people press us, she's going to blow by people. Right there, I think that changes the dynamic of our team."

Lakehead coach Jon Kreiner must adjust to the loss of CIS player of the year Jylissa Williams but says the Thunderwolves are a "much deeper unit" this season. They've been starting point guard Jerika Baldin, off-guard Katelyn Zen, wing Bridget O'Reilly, power forward Katelyn Andrea and either 6-1 Gillian Lavoie or 6-0 August Ricketts in the post. That will likely change with the return of Minnesota-born post Essa Jacobsen, who's out with a back injury until January.

"The kids are playing with confidence and still playing as if nothing's changed, except for the fact that now they realize there's a lot more shots out there," says Kreiner.

Among other squads slouching toward credibility are the Laurentian Voyageurs, where Adrienne Moreau, Nicole Eccles, Meghan Forestell, Danielle Harris, Adriane Bruni, L'Shante Henry and Emily Tinnes are in the mix to start. Coach Jason Hurley predicts their fate will come down "unfortunately, to the three-point line and how well we shoot it offensively, and then, if we can buy into rebounds."

The Laurier Golden Hawks will suffer a drop-off after graduating Whitney Ellenor, Samantha Jacobs and Lee Anna Osei, and lacking size, will be forced to play small-ball, in hopes they can get early open looks in transition. Golden Hawks coach Paul Falco expects starters Nicole Morrison, Kaitlyn Schenck, Courtney Bruce, Lauren Jamieson and Alexandra Spadaro "to take some bumps along the road," particularly in the absence of injured post Melissa Pare.

Veteran Toronto coach Michele Belanger says her roster has been decimated by injury, leaving her with a starting line-up likely to feature point guard Diedre Edwards, Rahshida Atkinson, Abena Addo, Emily Piccini and Alanna Garner. "We have to maintain our focus for 40 minutes," Belanger says. As for having a roster with seven rookies, she notes, "it's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get."

Erin McAleenan heads back east after three years at the Lethbridge helm to assume the reins at York, where Bill Pangos hung up his 29-year shingle. The former Acadia Axette is hoping sophomore Haley Bowie finds that "CIS point guard mindset," which will allow Ishanaa Seupersadsingh to shift back to off-guard. The Lions will also rely on streaky scorer Jackie Koudys for production and cross their fingers that an undersized front-line featuring Shauney Fisher, Taylor Ross and Emma Thompson can hold their own against some of the league's more powerful posts.

"The big thing for us right now is we've got to limit our turnovers," McAleenan says. "The other thing is that we have to be creative and take advantage of the opportunities that we have more control over, baseline in-bounds, sideline inbounds."

Three of Waterloo's best, forward Amy Jarvis, post Ally Vonk and guard Swetha Kulandaivelan, are injured and likely won't return to the line-up until January, leaving coach Tyler Slipp playing havoc ball, hoping his roster of small-ball guards such as Emily Wilk, Jacqui Rodrigues and Janel Ulman can generate enough turnovers off the press for transition layups, or spread the floor in the half-court and use crisp ball movement to create open looks. "We're going to have games where we get bullied and just get out-rebounded. So we've gotta be really scrappy," says Slipp.

Algoma coach Ryan Vetrie expects 6-4 St. Francis Xavier transfer post Mairead Dunn, point guard Sydney Resch and 5-4 Brandon transfer Carriera Lamoureux to anchor the Thunderbirds attack. With six newcomers, the squad needs "practice, and to learn how to play together," says coach Ryan Vetrie. "We can't have all those letdowns."

Creating a program from scratch would intimidate even the best of inveterate grinders, but Nipissing coach Marg Jones appears to have relished the task while tirelessly scouring the juvenile development league for hidden gems that might prove to be solid contributors at the university level. In the mix to start for the Lakers are Saskatchewan transfer point guard Heidi Smith, Claire Abbott, Michaela Branker, Alexe Galipeau-Wilson, Marla Corney, Ali Czich, Mackenzie Bahm and Samantha Kordez.

"Defining who we are as a team is critical, along with understanding that we need to be that gritty, defensive-oriented, battling team that is on the floor for every 50-50 ball," says Jones. "None of our wins are going to be pretty."

Grind on, Marg, grind on.

Source: CIS