SSN Features
Battle for the Bronze Baby
- March 10 2010
The top-seeded and defending national champion Simon Fraser Clan will be one of three Canada West teams looking to resume the conference's domination in CIS women's basketball later this week in Hamilton.
The 2010 CIS championship gets underway Friday at McMaster University with the quarter-final round and concludes Sunday at 3 p.m. with the gold-medal final.
SSN Canada will carry every championship bracket game live.
Seeded No. 1 for the third straight season and for the fourth time in six years, the Clan will be joined in Hamilton by the No. 2 Windsor Lancers (OUA champions), No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies (Canada West bronze medallists), No. 4 Regina Cougars (Canada West finalists), No. 5 Laval Rouge et Or (QSSF champions), No. 6 Cape Breton Capers (AUS champions), No. 7 Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA finalists), as well as the tournament hosts, the No. 8 McMaster Marauders.
All are returnees from last year's championship in Regina, with the exception of McMaster, which is back after a one-year absence.
Friday's opening round will see Windsor take on Ottawa at 1 p.m. in a rematch of the OUA final (won by the Lancers), Saskatchewan battle Cape Breton at 3 p.m., SFU open its title defence against McMaster at 6 p.m., and Regina square off against Laval in the 8 p.m. nightcap.
The Canada West stranglehold on the Bronze Baby trophy is well documented.
Teams from western Canada (including schools from the now defunct Great Plains conference) have captured 18 straight CIS banners since Laurentian won back-to-back titles in 1990 and 1991.
The streak includes 13 gold-medal finals between western squads - including the last three and six of the last seven - and national titles for seven CWUAA schools including SFU (4), Victoria (4), Winnipeg (3), UBC (3), Manitoba (2), Regina (1) and Alberta (1).
The Bronze Baby has spent the last eight off-seasons in British Columbia following triumphs by SFU (4), UBC (3) and Victoria (1).
Simon Fraser, Regina and Alberta resumed the West domination a year ago when they swept the CIS podium. The Clan beat the Cougars 68-62 in the national final, while the Pandas edged Windsor 64-62 in the bronze-medal match.
In their 10th and final CIS season (before joining the NCAA next year), the No. 1 Clan are looking for a fifth Bronze Baby trophy, and a second one in McMaster's Burridge Gym. They claimed their first title in Hamilton back in 2002.
SFU has never captured back-to-back CIS banners however, its other titles coming in 2005, 2007 and 2009. No team has been able to repeat a CIS champion since the 1997 Manitoba Bisons.
This edition of the Clan might be the deepest in program history thanks in large part to the foursome of forward Robyn Buna and posts Laurelle Weigl, Matteke Hutzler and Kate Hole, all members of the spectacular recruiting class of 2006-07 who won their first of two CIS rings as freshmen.
Buna was named Canada West MVP this season and was a second-team all-Canadian last year. Weigl, a former CIS rookie of the year, was also a CIS second-team all-star in '08-09 and was the MVP of the 2007 CIS championship. Hutzler took MVP honours at last year's tournament.
Guards Lisa Tindle and Brea McLaughlin, both fifth-year seniors, are also looking for a third CIS ring.
The Clan, who have led all 13 national coaches' polls this season, travel to Hamilton sporting a stellar 28-1 overall record against CIS opponents, including a 20-point win (84-64) over Saskatchewan in the Canada West semifinals and a 30-point victory (92-62) over Regina in the conference final. Their non-conference schedule included a pair of wins over No. 2-seeded Windsor (81-78, 69-50) and a victory over No. 7 Ottawa (50-27).
Friday's quarter-final duel between SFU and Mac will mark the third time in five years the two teams clash in the opening round of the CIS championship. Simon Fraser prevailed 84-67 in 2007 and 57-56 in overtime in 2006.
"It's always exciting to play the host school, you know there will be a good crowd, and it will be a prime time game, there is definitely an added challenge," said SFU head coach Bruce Langford. "It seems like it has come full circle, it's where it started for us."
The No. 2 Lancers were impressive a year ago in their first-ever trip to the Nationals, downing Saskatchewan in the first-round before pushing Alberta to the limit in the third-place game.
Windsor hasn't missed a beat this season going 21-1 in conference play for the second straight campaign before repeating as OUA champion thanks to a convincing 83-55 win over Ottawa, its quarter-final opponent on Friday. The Lancers beat No. 4 Regina 73-60 in pre-season action in early October and scored a pair of 20-plus-point victories over No. 5 Laval over Christmas.
Making their fourth appearance in five years and the fifth in program history, the No. 3 Huskies have yet to advance past the quarter-finals at the CIS tourney. In her first season with Saskatchewan, guard Lindsay DeGroot returns to McMaster, where she was a two-time all-Canadian with the Marauders in '06-07 and '07-08.
The Regina-Laval duel in Friday's nightcap will be a rematch of the 2008 semifinal that saw the Cougars edge the Rouge et Or 73-63 in overtime.
The No. 4 Cougars are aiming for a third straight trip to the national final but for a different result once they get there. Regina lost 68-62 to SFU in last year's title match and 67-46 to UBC in 2008.
Making their 10th appearance in 11 years, the No. 5 Rouge et Or are still looking for an elusive first Bronze Baby triumph. They reached the final once, in 2002, losing 66-51 to Simon Fraser.
The Bishop's Gaiters, who claimed back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984, remain the only Quebec team in history to capture the CIS banner.
Led by superstar forward Kelsey Hodgson, who averaged 22.0 points per game in conference play to lead the nation in scoring for the second straight season, the No. 6 Capers hope to become the first AUS squad to be crowned CIS champions. Cape Breton came oh-so-close in 2006 when they dropped a 56-53 decision to UBC in their only trip to the national final.
The No. 7 Gee-Gees are looking to advance past the first round for the first time in four CIS championship appearances, all in the past seven years.
The No. 8 Marauders claimed CIS bronze in their last appearance in 2008. No team has hoisted the Bronze Baby on home court since the inaugural national championship in 1972.
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