Wesmen Game Results January 4 - January 7, 2007

Thursday, January 4, 2007

AWAY

Women's Basketball @ MANITOBA (16th Annual Duckworth Challenge)
WESMEN 83  Manitoba 81

EZIRIM, ASAGWARA LEAD WESMEN TO VICTORY OVER MANITOBA

The duo of Jenny Ezirim and Uzo Asagwara were the difference as the Winnipeg Wesmen defeated the Manitoba Bisons 83-81 in overtime in the opening game of the 16th Annual Duckworth Challenge played Thursday evening at the University of Manitoba. Ezirim was on fire all game leading the Wesmen with a game high 27 points along with four steals. Asagwara, the nations leading scorer finished with 25 points and seven rebounds. The Wesmen trailed by two points, 21-19 after the first quarter but exploded for 21 points in the second quarter and tightning up on the defensive side of the ball only holding Manitoba to 12 second quarter points. Winnipeg went into halftime with a 40-33 lead. Ezirim scored 19 of her points in the first half. The third quarter was time for Uzo Asagwara to show up as she poured in 10 points in the quarter to give the Wesmen a 59-55 lead after three quarters. The Wesmen struggled in the fourth quarter as several Wesmen turnovers led to key points by Manitoba and allowed them to get back into the game. Manitoba held a 72-67 lead with just under two minutes to play. Ezirim responded knocking down a clutch three pointer and sinking two big free throws to tie the game at 72-72. Both teams exchanged free throws in the dieing seconds to force extra time. Second year post Nicki Schutz scored five of her 11 points in overtime, including the game winner with six seconds to play to give Winnipeg the victory. Stefanie Timmersman had a double-double for Winnipeg finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sarah Holder led Manitoba with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Ezirim was named Winnipeg's Duckworth Challenge MVP while Holder took the honor for Manitoba. The victory improves the Wesmen's record to 7-4 and sole possesion of first place in the Great Plains Division. Manitoba drops to 6-5. The two teams will meet at the Duckworth Centre on Saturday night. Game time is 6:15 p.m.

Men's Basketball @ MANITOBA (16th Annual Duckworth Challenge)
WESMEN 74  Manitoba 75

WESMEN UNABLE TO FINISH OFF BISONS

The Wesmen had Manitoba in trouble but were unable to finish them off. The Bisons came back from a 12 point defecit to defeat the Wesmen 75-74 in the second game of the 16th Annual Duckworth Challenge at the University of Manitoba Thursday night. Winnipeg played well in the first half and on several occassions had Manitoba down by as much as nine points. The Wesmen took a 40-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Bisons made there move towards the midway point of the half with the score 49-38 Winnipeg, the Bisons went on a 18-6 run to take a 56-55 lead with just under nine minutes to play. Back-to-back baskets by Erfan Nasajpour gave Winnipeg the lead back before Darcy Coss of the Bisons drained three-three pointers to give Manitoba a 69-62 lead. Winnipeg was able to fight back and tie the game at 74-74 with a Nasajpour three pointer with 20 seconds to play. On the ensuing play Isaac Ansah was fouled and was able to sink one of two free throws to give Manitoba the victory. Dan Shynkaryk led the Wesmen with 19 points. Nasajpour finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Former Manitoba Bison Ivan Saric had 17 points also for Winnipeg. Isaac Ansah led Manitoba with 23 points and Brian Crowe finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Shynkaryk was named Winnipeg's MVP and Brian Crowe was MVP for Manitoba. The loss drops Winnipeg's record to 4-7 tied with Manitoba who improve to 4-7. The two teams will wrap up their home and home series on Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. The game will be carried live on 1290 CFRW.

Friday, January 5, 2007

AWAY

Women's Volleyball @ University of Toronto Invitational Tournament

WESMEN def York 3-1 (14-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22)

WESMEN BEGIN U OF T TOURNEY ON A WINNING NOTE

The Wesmen Women's Volleyball team started the year off on the right foot defeating York University 3-1 (14-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22) in the opening match of the University of Toronto Invitational Tournament. The countries leader in kills, Nicola Dirks led the Wesmen with 18 kills and 17 digs. Jayme Menzies also had a strong match finishing with 12 kills. Defensively libero Shanti Plett finished with 11 digs. Setter Courtney Desaulniers had a great match distributing the ball finishing with 36 assists.

 WESMEN def Waterloo 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-8)

WESMEN BEAT WATERLOO FOR SECOND WIN OF TOURNAMENT

The Wesmen won their second match of the day defeating Waterloo 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-8). The Wesmen were led by Nicola Dirks who finished with 13 kills and 10 defensive digs. Claire Willerton had two big blocks in the match. Defensively Shanti Plett was solid finishing with 12 digs. "It is a good start to the new year, much better than the way we finished off last year,"said a relieved sounding Wesmen Head Coach Diane Scott. The Wesmen will have two tough matches tomorrow facing Montreal and Toronto, both teams are ranked in the top ten.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

HOME

Women's Basketball vs MANITOBA
WESMEN 82  Manitoba 64

ASAGWARA ON FIRE IN VICTORY OVER MANITOBA

Fifth year guard Uzo Asagwara scored a game high 34 points to lead the Winnipeg Wesmen to a 82-64 victory over the Manitoba Bisons in front of 1700 spectators at the Duckworth Centre Saturday night. Asagwara the CIS scoring leader was held to only 13 points in the first half but exploded for 21 points in the second half. The Wesmen started slowly in the contest falling behind 23-19 after the first quarter. Fourth year guard Stefanie Timmersman sparked the Wesmen in the second quarter coming up with key baskets and pulling down key rebounds. Timmersman scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in the first half to help Winnipeg take a 44-38 halftime lead. In the second half the Bisons were unable to solve Winnipeg's tough defence only managing to score 26 points on 8-of-27 shooting from the field. The Wesmen went on to score 38 points in the half to extend their lead and seal the win. Timmersman finished with a double-double 18 points, 13 rebounds. Rachel Hart scored a team high 23 points to lead Manitoba. Fifth year forward Sarah Holder had a strong game for the Bisons finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The victory improves Winnipeg's record to 8-4 while the Bisons fall to 6-6. The Wesmen will be on the road next weekend with games against Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Men's Basketball vs MANITOBA 
WESMEN 75  Manitoba 56

STRONG SECOND HALF GIVES WESMEN WIN OVER MANITOBA

The Winnipeg Wesmen struggled in the first half but had an impressive second half as they defeated the Manitoba Bisons 75-56 Saturday night at the Duckworth Centre. The Wesmen trailed 31-29 at halftime. Aside from Dan Shynkaryk who scored Winnipeg's first 10 points, the team looked out of zinc trailing 25-15 with over six minutes to play in the first half. Matt Opalko nailed two big three pointers during a 12-2 run to pull the game even at 27-27. In the second half Winnipeg came out on fire connecting on 18-of-32 of their shots from the field, including 5-of-10 from three point territory. The Wesmen held a slim 41-40 lead at the eight minute mark when Matt Opalko drained two-three pointers in a row to give the Wesmen a 47-40 lead and seemed to deflate the Bisons. Dan Shynkaryk finished with a game high 26 points. Opalko contributed 16 points, including four-three pointers. Guard Erfan Nasajpour was close to a triple-double finishing with 14 points, nine assists and nine rebounds. The Wesmen stellar defence held Bison forward  Darcy Coss to a team high 12 points. Myron Dean also finished with 12 points for Manitoba. The win improves Winnipeg's record to 5-7. Manitoba drops to 4-8. The Wesmen will be on the road next weekend with games against the Alberta Golden Bears and Saskatchewan Huskies.

AWAY

Women's Volleyball @ University of Toronto Invitational Tournament

WESMEN vs Montreal
Montreal def WESMEN 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 29-27)

WESMEN PLAY TOUGH IN LOSS TO MONTREAL

The Wesmen played Montreal tough but were swept 3-0 925-21, 25-19, 29-27) in the teams third match of the University of Toronto Invitational Tournament. Nicola Dirks had eight kills for Winnipeg. Defensively Jayme Menzies and Shanti Plett had 14 and 12 digs defensively. Winnipeg now has a 2-1 record in the tournament thus far.


WESMEN vs Toronto
Toronto def WESMEN 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-23)

HOST TORONTO SWEEP WESMEN

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-23) in the final round-robin match of the University of Toronto Invitational Tournament Saturday evening. Nicola Dirks rebounded from a tough morning match, finishing with 18 kills. "We hung in there but fell just short", said Wesmen Head Coach Diane Scott. The Wesmen finish the round robin portion of the tournament with an even 2-2 record. Winnipeg will face York in the bronze medal match Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

AWAY

Women's Volleyball @ University of Toronto Invitational Tournament

WESMEN def York  3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-17)

WESMEN CAPTURE BRONZE AT U OF T TOURNEY

The Wesmen capped off a succesfull weekend by sweeping York 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-17) to win the bronze medal at the University of Toronto Invitational Tournament. Nicola Dirks, the CIS leader in kills and total points led the Wesmen with 13 kills. Dayna Kiesman had her best match of the tournament finishing with eight kills. Setter Courtney Desaulniers finished with 31 set assists. "The team played hard all weekend and winning the bronze medal is a good reward for their efforts", said Head Coach Diane Scott.

The Wesmen will resume their Canada West regular season schedule this weekend as they play host to Thompson Rivers on Friday and Saturday night at the Duckworth Centre.