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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

AUS Women's Basketball Championships Recap: Capers Go Back to Back

The Capers won thier Fourth AUS Title of the Fabian Mackenzie era.
(Photo Credit: Memorial Sports Information)

by Dave Chafe

St. Francis Xavier 73 - St. Mary's 64

Game 1 of the 2011 AUS Championship tournament saw the St. Mary's Huskies fall to the St. Francis Xavier X-Women in a game that was closer than the final score, 74-63, indicated. The X-Women opened the scoring with Ashley Stephen converting a layup directly off the opening tip and were clearly intent on keeping SMU's Justine Colley at bay by denying her the ball on SMU's ensuing possession. The Huskies responded with a spirited, energetic start of their own attacking X's interior defense with Maegan Seaward and Susanne Canvin. Seaward scored eight of the Huskies first 10 points with an assortment of drops steps and short hook shots powering past the smaller Kirsten Jones and after hitting only two three point shots all season, Canvin hit threes on consecutive possessions to further pace the SMU attack. The X-Women's pressure defense kept them within striking distance of SMU and allowed them to overcome some shooting woes for much of the first quarter.


The second quarter saw a return to regular season form for the Huskies' offense as Colley started handling the ball more against the steady pressure of Victoria Anderson and SMU seemed to forget about Canvin's post presence. X-Women posts Donisha Young and Jones also became more active sending Seaward to the Husky bench with her second foul early in the period. Seaward was replaced by Amanda Smith who gamely battled Young and Jones despite giving up considerable size. SMU's starters were further plagued by foul trouble as Rebecca Nuttall picked up her third which seemed to be a turning point in the game as the momentum clearly shifted to the X-Women. X continued to press their advantage taking their first lead of the game in dying seconds of the half to go into the break up 42-41.


The Huskies started the second half with purpose but after missing a number of relatively easy shots and having some unforced turnovers, were back on their heals as X raised their own intensity coming out of the locker room. Some highly productive offensive rebounding (10 in the second half, 15 in total) saw the X-Women start to stretch their half-time lead which ballooned after Nuttall picked up an early fourth foul and returned to the SMU bench. Both teams appeared to be tight in the fourth quarter as the game went without a field goal for either team for a stretch of almost five minutes. The Huskies applied a 2-2-1 press with some success forcing a number of turnovers and extra possessions but may have left it too late and resorted to fouling the force the X-Women to close out the game from the free throw line.


Donisha Young and Ashley Stephen finished with 17 points each for X with Stephen and Kirsten Jones combining for 26 rebounds to allow X to finish with a 48-33 edge on the boards. Justine Colley and Susanne Canvin both replied with 21 points each with Canvin also pulling down 11 rebounds.



Memorial 83 - Acadia 79

The host Memorial Seahawks and #5 seed Acadia played an entertaining opening quarter with the teams trading baskets in early going. Abbey Duinker scored Acadia's first seven points sending MUN's All-Star post Ally Forsey to the bench after an ineffective two minutes. The remainder of the period was a shootout between's MUN perimeter players and Acadia's Duinker sisters with Emma Duinker hitting several tough shots both inside and out. The three point shot featured prominently throughout the game with the teams combining for 18 threes on the night. Grace Fishbein's hustle and aggression sparked a huge second quarter run by Memorial giving the Seahawks a 16 point lead but the heady play of Emma Duinker helped Acadia stay within striking distance. The teams went into the half with MUN up 47-33 lead by Fishbein's 17 first half points. The Duinkers paced Acadia in the half with 12 points each.


The third quarter started much the way the second ended as Acadia held their composure during another MUN surge. However, the Seahawks attack remained one-dimensional with Forsey still unable to get on track and the perimeter shooting eventually cooled off just as Acadia's Ariel Smith started to find the range making three three-point shots in less than two minutes. Lindsay Harris and rookie Kristy Moore also joined the attack which saw the Axewomen finish the game with five players scoring in double figures. Memorial closed the period leading 66-55.


Acadia showed championship calibre resiliency in responding to a third attempt by the Seahawks to put the game out of reach with a scoring run. This time the Axewomen went on a run of their own as the Seahawks continued a season-long trend of struggling to score down the stretch and Acadia's final push brought them to within three points with 26 seconds to play. Fierce pressure by the Axewomen forced a Memorial turnover on an inbounds play with Moore hitting one of two free throws after a MUN foul. Acadia was in turn forced to foul Grace Fishbein on the ensuring possession to stop the clock. Fishbein, who tied with SMU's Susanne Canvin as the conference's best free throw shooter at 81% on the season, hit both free throws to seal the win.


Fishbein finished with a game high 31 points supported by Kim Devison who shot four from four from the three point line and Brittany Dalton who came within one assist of a triple double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Abbey Duinker had a stellar all-around performance of her own with 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Ariel Smith added 16 points with Emma Duinker and Lindsay Harris contributing 14 each.



Cape Breton 72 - Memorial 66

Cape Breton had an inauspicious start in their semi-final matchup with Memorial as their leading rebounder and defensive presence Denisha Haywood picked up her second personal foul on a questionable call with 7:41 remaining in the opening period and spent the remainder of the first half on the Capers bench. In her limited action Haywood displayed the type of impact she can have grabbing three rebounds and blocking two shots in the game's first two minutes.

Memorial was unable to fully take advantage of Haywood's absences however, as their leading scorer Grace Fishbein followed Haywood to the bench with two first period fouls of her own after scoring Memorial's first eight points. Despite losing Fishbein, Memorial was able to build a 24-12 lead on the strenght of Brittany Dalton's hot hand. Playing their first game of the tournament, the Capers were unable to establish any tempo offensively which limited their ability to get into their full court man defense.


Second quarter action saw the Capers' leading scorers Kari Everett and Jahlica Kirnon become more active offensively. Kirnon in particular proved to be a difficult matchup for MUN's defense as the Capers stormed back outscoring Memorial by nine to go into half-time leading 39-36. Also notable in the second quarter was an ongoing tough but ultimately clean war waged in the low post between Ally Forsey and Jen Parsons of Memorial and the Capers' Stephanie Toxopeus.


Denisha Haywood's return in the third period was short-lived as she almost immediately picked up two more fouls and took her place on the bench again. Kirnon picked up from where she left off in the first half again hitting several contested shots in traffic while Dalton and Fishbein answered for MUN. Dalton hit a huge three point shot to end a Capers' run that threatened to blow the game open. Despite Dalton's shot, Cape Breton was clearly building momentum heading into the fourth quarter.


The game remained a close physical contest throughout the second half but Memorial was never able to regain the lead. The physical nature was never more obvious than a play in which Capers guard Nicole Works sent Grace Fishbein to the floor with a hard play-off foul that might have been worthy of a flagrant call in a regular season game. Trailing by three in the dying seconds, Memorial resorted to fouling to stop the clock but the Capers hit three of four from the free throw line to seal a six point win.


Kirnon finished the game with 19 points for the Capers while Kari Everett and Toxopeus also hit double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. Memorial's offense was dominated by Dalton and Fishbein who scored 21 and 19 points. Cape Breton held a 34-26 edge in rebounds while also hit 20 of 27 free throws to Memorials 11 of 15.



UNB 78 - St. Francis Xavier 58

As has become a common trend for them, the X-women got off to a fast start scoring the first basket and then forcing a five second violation on UNB's attempt to inbound the ball after the basket. X quickly built up a 12-4 lead with Kirsten Jones doing much of the early damage. The X-women had no trouble handling UNB's 1-2-1-1 zone press while applying their usual full court pressing and trapping against UNB's Corby sisters, Leah and Megan. Conference Rookie of the Year Claire Colborne and MVP Amanda Sharpe were non-factors for UNB in the opening period.


UNB's Varsity Reds found their legs in the second period as the game became a “run and gun” affair with both teams racing through each other's full court pressure for quick transition baskets. UNB's zone press started to take its toll as the X-Women inexplicably changed their press break tactics sending the ball up the sidelines in an effort to avoid traps instead of reversing the ball back to the middle where they had early success. UNB's guards starting tipping passes, forcing held balls, and eventually making clean steals off ill-advised X-Women passes. X coach Matt Skinn chose to allow his team to play through UNB's run rather than taking a timeout to stop the carnage that saw UNB going into the half with a commanding lead.


The X-Women never recovered their early game form as UNB remained the aggressor throughout the second half finishing with a comfortable 78-58 win booking their ticket to Sunday's championship final.



St. Francis Xavier 56 - Memorial 35

With a berth in next weekend's Eastern Regional at Carleton on the line, the AUS third place game pitted the St. FX X-Women against Memorial's Seahawks. Although both teams were playing their third game in three days, it was evident that the X-women had moved beyond their semi-final disappointment while MUN were perhaps still feeling the effects of their near miss against Cape Breton the night before.


The X-women seized the initiative with their smaller but more athletic posts Kirsten Jones and Donisha Young stepping out to hit several mid range jump shots. Memorial struggled offensively unable to convert a number of good looks from the paint on post feeds and dribble penetration. The Seahawks capably handled the full court pressure brought by X but were guilty of perhaps over-passing the ball turning down good shot opportunities and passing repeatedly from within the paint. During the second quarter, the X-women had offensive problems of their own as Memorial turned up their defensive intensity forcing the X-Women to primarily play on the perimeter. With the defenses holding the upper hand on both ends of the floor, the teams limped into the half-time break with X holding a 27-16 lead.


The game remained an offensive nightmare in the second half for both sides. However, the X-Women were able to take advantage of some timely offensive rebounding to manufacture points while their defense was able to force several Memorial turnovers that were converted into easy transition baskets. Seahawk's coach Doug Partridge cleared his bench with 7:12 remaining and his team trailing 52-29. The Memorial starters returned briefly but came out of the game for the final time with 3:17 to play allowing their younger players to gain some play-off exposure and experience.


In what proved to be a less than brilliant performance by either team, Memorial finished the game shooting 28.3% from field with 28 turnovers and taking a season low total of four free throws. The X-Women were marginally better offensively shooting only 34.8 from the field. The teams combined to shoot three for 20 from three point range. After her fast start, Kirsten Jones finished with a double-double on 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the X-Women. Brittany Dalton was the only Seahawk of note with 14 points and seven rebounds.




Cape Breton 65 - UNB 60

The 2011 AUS Championship game saw the UNB Varsity Reds jump out to an early double-digit lead despite receiving minimal offensive contributions from leading scorers Claire Colbourne and Amanda Sharpe. The veteran leadership of Leah and Megan Corby allowed the Reds to play with confidence despite the fact that the Cape Breton guards easily ran around and through UNB's zone press. After a relatively quiet semi-final outing against Memorial, Kari Everett was a much more assertive force offensively for the Capers providing ample support for Jahlica Kirnon's frequent forays to the hoop. The Capers closed the first period on a small run to take a 17-14 lead.


Capers post Denisha Haywood continued to dominate inside against a clearly frustrated Sharpe until late in the second quarter when Sharpe found her way to several baskets on some highly polished low post moves and mid-range jump shots. Claire Colbourne also started to find some success after being equally frustrated by a very physical defensive effort by the Capers' Nicole Works. Colbourne's fitness may have also been a factor in her slow start as she removed herself from the game on three different occasions. Both teams put on a display of solid, fundamental basketball and concluded the first half with Cape Breton holding a 31-26 lead despite some foul trouble that sent Kirnon to the bench with 5:35 to play in the half.


A well-played third period by both teams had Cape Breton up 47-44 going into the fourth, a lead the Capers managed to build to 10 points midway through the period behind the experience of championship veterans Everett and Kirnon. The last two minutes saw impressive execution by both teams amid frantic pressure by UNB as the Reds put on a final push in the last two minutes. Back to back three point shots by Leah Corby including one from deep in the corner off an inbounds play tied the game with less than 30 seconds remaining. After the Capers took a late timeout to try to end the game in regulation time, the Reds' bid to force was foiled by a missed call on a clear carry by Jahlica Kirnon who then drove to the hoop making the basket and drawing an intentional foul from Amanda Sharpe. Kirnon hit her free throw to complete the three point play and then added two more to seal the Capers' third consecutive AUS title.


Tournament All-Star Kirnon led the Capers with 17 points in the game backed up by Kari Everett's 16 and Denisha Haywood's 14 rebounds in 20 minutes of play. Everett duplicated her 2010 MVP performance being named tournament MVP for the second straight year. UNB's tournament All-Star duo of Amanda Sharpe and Leah Corby responded for the Reds with 20 and 18 points respectively with Sharpe also pulling down seven rebounds.
Dave Chafe lives in Newfoundland and played varsity basketball for the Memorial Seahawks.
Follow us on twitter @_sportstream_. Sporstream is the webcasting home of the Saint Mary's Huskies, Halifax Rainmen, and Metro Marauders.

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