 | Members of the Lancer women’s basketball team hold aloft the Bronze Baby trophy in celebration of their national championship win Sunday. This was the fourth consecutive championship for the University of Windsor team. | |
Windsor - March 17, 2014 - The top-seeded Windsor Lancers earned their fourth-consecutive Bronze Baby Trophy in convincing fashion on Sunday evening in front of a capacity crowd on their home court at the St. Denis Centre, defeating the No. 2 Saint Mary's Huskies 71-45 in the ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS women's basketball championship gold-medal game.
Tournament all-star and four-time CIS all-Canadian Jessica Clemencon recorded a team-best 19 points, while Korissa Williams picked up 14 points and 12 rebounds to tally the tournament final's only double-double.
The now four-time defending national champions end their 2013-14 season on a 27-game winning streak, including regular season and playoff games, while extending their post-season run to 15 games dating back to the 2010-11 year.
Windsor becomes the first CIS women's basketball team to earn four-straight national titles since Laurentian won five-straight banners from 1975-1979.
"It never gets old," said Windsor head coach Chantal Vallée. "I'm so proud of the girls. We were facing an outstanding basketball team today, a very talented offensive team, and to come up with that kind of effort, I tip my hat off to our players. I couldn't be more proud of each and everyone one of them."
Miah-Marie Langlois added eight points, six rebounds and seven assists, and was named the CIS Final 8 Tournament MVP for a historic third time over the last four years. Langlois becomes the first CIS basketball player, in both men's and women's, to earn the honour three times in their career.
"Our defence was amazing today. That's really what made the difference in the game," said Langlois. "What a way to finish my university career. I'll never forget those moments with all the girls, those I played with for five years like Jessica. There are no words to describe it."
The Saint Mary's Huskies had their 31-game winning streak snapped, but finish an superb season with their best-ever result at a CIS Final 8 in just their third national tournament appearance, improving upon their bronze-medal finish in 2013.
Two-time CIS player of the year Justine Colley ended her incredible five-year career with a game-high 20 points while adding four rebounds and four assists. Rachelle Coward added eight points and four boards in a losing cause for the AUS champions.
"Hats off to Windsor. They're a great, great program. Very deserving of all their championships. They were the better team tonight. They took us out of what we wanted to do," said SMU head coach Scott Munro. "We still had a great season, the best in program history. We only had one loss all season, unfortunately it was tonight. With some distance, we'll appreciate the season as a whole."
After earning five charge calls one day earlier against UFV, Jocelyn LaRocque picked up right where she left off in the early going, taking some harm from Coward who picked up her first foul less than 30 seconds into the championship.
Langlois and Clemencon connected for an easy bucket to start the contest. After Angela Carvery dropped a three for the Huskies, Clemencon shook off some aggressive Huskies defence using a quick spin-move to notch her second lay-up of the game. The 2011 BLG Award winner as CIS female player of the year would score Windsor's first six points.
Langlois then penetrated the Huskies defence for a lay-up, but Colley quickly grabbed the ball off the in-bounds pass and drove down the court, forcing a Lancers foul. She hit 1-of-2 to bring Saint Mary's within two.
Langlois, playing in her final intercollegiate contest in her home city, hit a two-point bucket from mid-range and then forced a Saint Mary' s turnover. Williams connected on Windsor's ensuing possession, doubling the Lancers lead. Sophomore guard Caitlyn Longmuir then brought the crowd to its feet with a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first, giving Windsor a 17-9 lead.
Colley took the ball end-to-end on consecutive possessions to bring SMU within five early in the second period. However, after the Lancers responded with four quick points, both offences slowed as the first half came down to its final couple of minutes.
Langlois finally scored a mid-range jumper to end the scoring drought, and the Lancers would end the half with a 9-2 run, topped off with a Jocelyn LaRocque three-pointer.
Meanwhile, the nation's top player from Saint Mary's picked up six of SMU's seven total points in the second stanza, her final basket coming off a fast-break turnover. The Huskies finished the first half with a 22.2% field-goal efficiency (6-27) while Windsor was 14-of-39 (35.9%). Clemencon finished with a first-half high of 10 points.
LaRocque continued to frustrate Coward, drawing another charging call on the SMU rookie guard, negating the Huskies first possession of the second-half.
After Clemencon dropped a three-pointer, Colley turned over the ball, leading to a transition lay-up from Williams. Clemencon spread the lead above 20 soon after as Windsor's offence was charged coming out of the halftime break.
Becky Nash sank a baseline jumper in an attempt to spur on SMU, but Williams came up with an acrobatic play to keep the ball in play after a Windsor rebound looked like it was heading out of bounds. Kristine Lalonde notched a lay-in after Williams' great play to keep the Windsor momentum alive.
Coming out of a television timeout, Longmuir hit another three and CIS all-rookie Cheyanne Roger followed that with a lay-up to spread the lead up to 26 with just over three minutes left in the third.
Colley continued to persevere even in midst of the lead getting away from the Huskies, putting together another athletic run to the basket to earn two points for her team. After forcing a Windsor turnover and finding Coward for a three-pointer, Colley then hit a fade-away jumper to cut the lead to 20. The Lancers took a 49-31 lead into final period.
Clemencon and Williams began the fourth with two points each and Windsor went up by 24 early in the period.
Laura Langille answered for the Huskies with four-straight points, trying to get something going for the AUS banner-winners. After another Windsor three-pointer, Colley garnered a well-earned trip to the foul line while sinking a tough, running jumper.
However, the Lancers offence remained potent throughout the final quarter, wiping away any hope for an SMU comeback bid, and a LaRocque three-pointer with 1:12 remaining put a cap on the contest and started the countdown to the final buzzer.
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