Wesmen Playoff Results  February 19 - February 21, 2009

Thursday, February 19, 2009

AWAY

Great Plains Division Finals - best of three series

Women's Basketball @ Regina (Game One)
WESMEN 45  Regina 64

WESMEN STRUGGLE IN SERIES OPENING LOSS

The Winnipeg Wesmen dug themselves into a hole early on and it cost them on this night. The Regina Cougars took advantage of a struggling Winnipeg Wesmen team to post a convincing 64-45 victory in game one of the best of three Great Plains Division Final series Thursday night in Regina.

The Cougars raced out to a 22-6 first quarter lead against a Wesmen team that connected on only 3-of-14 (21%) of their shots from the field in the opening quarter.

Both teams struggled in the second quarter with both teams combining for 21 points in the quarter. The Cougars went into the halftime break with a 33-16 lead. Brittany Read scored 10 first half points to lead the Cougars. Jessica Stromberg was the lone bright spot for the Wesmen scoring seven points and hauling in five rebounds in the opening half.

Winnipeg managed to match Regina basket for basket in the third quarter as the Wesmen outscored the Cougars 20-19 but the deficit was still too much to overcome with Regina holding a commanding 52-36 lead after three quarters.

Regina outscored the Wesmen 12-9 in a relatively slow fourth quarter to preserve the 64-45 opening game win of the series.

Brittany Read led the Cougars with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jessica Lynch followed with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Caity Gooch led the Wesmen with a game high 19 points, including three-three pointers. Jessica Stromberg finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Winnipeg finished the contest shooting 16% from the field. Regina finished with a shooting percentage of 37%. Regina had the advantage in the rebounding department, out rebounding the Wesmen 55-36.

Game two of the best of three series will be played Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. in Regina.


Friday, February 20, 2009

AWAY

Great Plains Division Finals - best of three series

Women's Basketball @ Regina (Game Two)
WESMEN 59   Regina 60

COUGARS END WESMEN SEASON WITH NARROW VICTORY

The Regina Cougars once again put an end to the Wesmen season. The Cougars squeezed out a 60-59 victory over the Wesmen in game two of the best of three Great Plains Division Final Friday night in Regina. Regina wins the series 2-0 , the same result as last season when the Cougars defeated the Wesmen in two games.

Down 60-57 with the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter, the Wesmen passed it around the perimeter but couldn’t find an open shooter to take a three-pointer. Second year guard Mackenzie Prasek hit a wide-open layup to cut the lead to one, but with only two-tenths of a second remaining on the clock, the Wesmen didn’t have enough time to get the ball back for a final shot.

Winnipeg came out at the start of the game playing an agressive style of defense and limiting the Cougars offensive chances. The Wesmen held a 14-13 lead after the opening quarter, thanks in part to a pair of three pointers and holding the advantage in the rebounding department by a margin of 14-8.

The teams continued their battle in the second quarter matching each others basket with one of their own. The Wesmen went into the half time break leading 31-30.  Randie Gibson and Amy Ogidan led the Wesmen with eight first half points each. Chelsea Cassano led the Cougars with 11 points.

Winnipeg came out of the halftime break with confidence and carried that for the third quarter outscoring the Cougars 17-13 in the quarter to take a 48-43 lead into the fourth quarter. Jessica Stromberg carried the team in the quarter scoring eight points.

The veteran Cougars were able to battle back down the stretch, though. Regina ended up outscoring Winnipeg by a 17-11 margin in the final quarter, which never saw more than a three-point separation after the two-minute mark.

Chelsea Cassano led Regina with 13 points. Guard Rebecca Schmidt added 11 points and Jessica Lynch scored 10 points and grabbed a team leading eight rebounds.

Jessica Stromberg led the Wesmen with a game high 15 points. Amy Ogidan had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Randie Gibson finished with 12 points.



Canada West Final Four @ Alberta

Men's Volleyball vs Alberta
Alberta def WESMEN 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-17)

WESMEN TO PLAY FOR BRONZE AFTER LOSS TO ALBERTA

The undefeated and umber one ranked Alberta Golden Bears opened up the Canada West Final Four with a convincing 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-17) victory over the Winnipeg Wesmen Friday night in Edmonton.

The Golden Bears dominated the first set racing out to a 8-4 lead at the first technical timeout and doubled their lead to 16-8 at the second break before eventually winning the opening set 25-16.

Winnipeg started the second set on a better note. A service ace by Andrew Town gave the Wesmen a 8-6 lead at the first timeout. The Golden Bears recovered going on a 10-3 run to take a 16-11 lead at the second break of the set. Alberta took control of the match winning the second set 25-19.

Both teams started the third set exchanging points with Alberta holding on to a slim 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout. The Golden Bears were able to get some breathing room opening up a 16-11 lead before going on to win the third and final set 25-17.

Spencer Leiske and Joel Schmuland led Alberta with 12 kills each.

Andrew Town led the Wesmen with 12 kills and two service aces. Dan Lother had a team high six digs.

"We will bounce back from this mediocre performance. We were beneath our own standard of play in every area tonight", said Wesmen Head Coach Larry McKay..

The Wesmen will take on the loser of the Brandon/Thompson Rivers match in Saturday's bronze medal match. Match time is 7:30 p.m. (Wpg Time).

Saturday, February 21, 2009

AWAY 

Canada West Final Four @ Alberta

WESMEN vs Thompson Rivers (Bronze Medal Match)
Thompson Rivers def WESMEN 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 31-29)

WOLFPACK SWEEP WESMEN TO WIN BRONZE

The Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 31- 29) in the bronze medal match at the Canada West Final Four Saturday evening in Edmonton.

The Wolfpack won bronze at last years Final Four beating the Wesmen in five tough sets.

Josh Boruck led the Wolfpack with a match high 23 kills and finished with an attack percentage of .689. Gord Perrin added nine kills.

Andrew Town led the Wesmen with 14 kills. Justin Duff had a good match finishing with 11 kills and an attack percentage of .625. Alan Ahow had 10 kills and six digs. Middle Danny Andres had four blocks.

The Wesmen gained the early momentum in the first set leading 8-6 at the first technical timeout. Winnipeg continued to lead by a score of 11-8, when the Wolfpack scored four unanswered points to take a 12-11 lead for their first lead of the opening set. The teams battled to the second timeout with Thompson Rivers holding onto a slim 16-15 lead. Later in the set Thompson Rivers had set point leading 24-23 but Wesmen third year middle Justin Duff put a kill away to the score at 24-24, The teams exchanged points to 26-26 when a service ace by Gord Perrin and a kill by Andy Haley gave the Wolfpack the opening set by a score of 28-26.

The two teams continued their fierce battle in the second set with the Wolfpack leading 8-7 at the first technical timeout. Winnipeg answered right back going on a 5-2 run to take a 12-10 lead and continued to carry the play into the second break leading 16-14. After the timeout the Wolfpack scored three quick points to take a 17-16 lead. The two Canada West Conference rivals exchanged points to 22-22 when Thompson Rivers took control scoring three of the last four points to win the second set by a 25-23 score.

With momentum clearly on the Wolfpack's side, they continued to keep the Wesmen off balance racinng out to a 5-1 lead early in the third set and continued to lead at the technical timeout by a score of 8-5. Thompson Rivers led at 16-15 at the second break and looked to close out the match leading 24-21 when a determined Wesmen team scored four unanswered points to take a 25-24 lead. A Wesmen service error tied the score at 25-25. The epic battle continued with both teams exchanging points to 29-29 when the Wolfpack put an end to the match scoring the final two points to win the third set 31-29.

Winnipeg and Thompson Rivers will both be heading back to Edmonton next week to take part in the CIS Men's Volleyball Championships at the University of Alberta. The action begins on Friday.