(WINDSOR, Ont.) - Angelina Carvery recorded a game-high 13 points to lead the second-seeded Saint Mary's Huskies to a decisive 71-51 victory over the No. 7 Alberta Pandas in the first quarter-final of the ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS women's basketball championship at the St. Denis Centre on Friday afternoon.
CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wbkb/index
Rachelle Coward picked up 12 points while freshman Emily Jameson added 10 for the AUS champions, who improved to 30-0 overall this season against CIS opponents. The Huskies return to the national semifinals for the second straight year, hoping to improve from the program-best bronze medal they claimed in 2013 in Regina.
Despite two-time CIS player of the year Justine Colley spending only 16 minutes on the court because of early foul trouble, Saint Mary's jumped out to a commanding 25-7 lead after the first quarter and dominated the second frame 21-8 to go into halftime ahead 46-15.
Colley, a senior national team member from East Preston, N.S., finished with a modest seven points on 1-of-4 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
"It's definitely not the way we drew this one up," said winning head coach Scott Munro. "I was definitely expecting Justine to play way more than she did. But other players stepped up. We took advantage of many open looks early and were able to build a healthy lead.
"Alberta is a good basketball team. These things happen. They've been a top five team in the country all year and I absolutely still believe they're worthy of those rankings."
Understandably, Alberta bench boss Scott Edwards wasn't thrilled with the way things unfolded.
"First of all, credit to Saint Mary's. They came out and played their game and hit some shots early that rattled our team," Edwards said. "It was pretty disappointing to have that kind of result in our biggest game of the year."
The Pandas, who earned the at-large berth for the championship, are making their first CIS tournament appearance since they took home a bronze medal in 2009. Andria Carlyon led the way in a losing cause with 10 points.
The second-highest ranked offence in the country were quick out of the gate, starting the game with an explosive 9-2 run that prompted a timeout from Edwards. After dropping her first basket of the contest, Coward notched a running lay-in to help the Huskies build their early lead.
Colley earned her only field goal of the game soon after with a mid-range jumper. After Coward sank a three-pointer, the Huskies forced an Alberta turnover and Jameson made them pay, sinking another jumper from beyond the arc. The St. John's, Nfld. native converted another quick lay-up in transition, helping the No. 2 seed take a commanding 25-7 lead after one quarter of play.
Jameson continued to stay hot in the second, recording the first three points of the quarter with another long-ranger. Kelly Lyons responded by using some quick handy work under the Huskies basket, fighting off some heavy Saint Mary's defensive pressure to earn a lay-up for the Canada West bronze-medallists.
However, that did little to stymie the Huskies offensive wave throughout the rest of the opening half of play. Carvery and Carlie Nugent tallied consecutive three-pointers, and Jamieson's long deep corner two solidified a dominant first half where Saint Mary's shot a potent 50% from the floor and made six of their 13 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Huskies limited the Pandas to single digits in each of the first two quarters as well as a first-half field-goal percentage of 16.7%. Jameson paced Saint Mary's with a half-high of 10 points, while three Pandas picked up a team-high of four each for Alberta.
Carlyon looked to create a spark for the Pandas at the start of the second half, picking up a basket while taking a foul and converting the ensuing free-throw. Carlyon and Megan Van de kraats then both got to the foul line on consecutive possessions but combined to go just 1-of-4. Saskia Van ginhoven helped the Alberta cause with a strong penetration inside for two more points, but the Pandas still faced a 30-point deficit at the midway point of the third.
The AUS champs continued to maintain their healthy spread into the final quarter of play and Munro took an opportunity to rest his two-time CIS MVP throughout the latter stages of the final two quarters.
The Huskies finished with a 39.1% field-goal percentage while the Pandas used an improved second-half offence to finish at a 31.6% efficiency. Alberta narrowly won a tight rebound battle with 47 boards compared to 46 from the Huskies.
In Saturday's early semifinal at 3 p.m., Saint Mary's will play the winner of Saskatchewan and Queen's, live on Sportsnet 360 and www.cis-sic.tv.
The Pandas will play the loser of Saskatchewan-Queen's on the consolation side at 10 a.m.
STAT LEADERS
SMU 25-21-14-11: 71
ALB 7-8-13-23: 51
Saint Mary's
Points: Angelina Carvery (13), Rachelle Coward (12), Emily Jameson (10)
Rebounds: Laura Langille (9), Emily Jameson (6)
Assists: Angelina Carvery (5)
Player of the game: Angelina Carvery
Alberta
Points: Andria Carlyon (12), Saskia VanGinhoven (10)
Rebounds: Andria Carlyon (11), Jessilyn Fairbanks (6), Sally Hillier (6)
Assists: Jessilyn Fairbanks (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: No. 6 Queen's vs. No. 3 Saskatchewan (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Quarter-final 3: No. 8 Wilfrid Laurier vs. No. 1 Windsor (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
20:00 Quarter-final 4: No. 5 Fraser Valley vs. No. 4 McGill (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Saturday, March 15
10:00 Consolation 1: No. 7 Alberta vs. Loser QF 2 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
12:00 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Semifinal 1: No. 2 Saint Mary's vs. Winner QF 2 (Sportsnet 360 / www.CIS-SIC.tv *)
17:00 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (Sportsnet 360 / www.CIS-SIC.tv *)
Sunday, March 16
15:00 5th Place (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.
Source: CIS Communications