Women's basketball: Top 10 tracker: Another loss for the Pandas, 1000 for Roc, 996 for Cassano

This week was not without upsets, as the #5 and #7 teams suffered unexpected losses. We also have a pair of personal achievements to note, although one hasn't happened quite yet.

1. Saskatchewan (coaches' #4): Outscored Brandon 18-2 and 26-4 in the first and third quarters, and shot 50% as a team, en route to an easy Friday win. Essentially shot 50% the next day against Regina, hitting 9 of 18 from beyond the arc, but they were only up by 6 at the half so at least it was a closer game for a while. Jill Humbert, one of the few Huskies to have a low-percentage day, still managed 8 assists.

2. Simon Fraser (#1): When one of the best teams meets one of the worst (UFV), what do you expect? 42 total points from Robyn Buna and a double-double from Laurelle Weigl sounds about right.

3. Windsor (#3): Dranadia Roc, despite only shooting 4-of-14 Wednesday night against McMaster, nevertheless scored enough to put her over 1000 points in her career. Windsor only won 54-52, and they were down 42-37 entering the fourth, but Mac has been knocking on the Top 10 door for a while. Saturday night at Laurier was much more one-sided (82-53), Alisa Wulff led with 22 in 29 minutes.

4. Victoria (#9): Kayla Dysktra continued her dominant play: Friday, it was 15 points, 12 boards, and 64% from the field; Saturday, 16-15-67% and 14 of those 15 were defensive rebounds. Granted, these performances came against mid-20 RPI teams (Winnipeg and Manitoba) but one of those teams is actually in the official Top 10. Jane Anholt also stood out with 20 points in just 17 minutes against Winnipeg.

5. Alberta (#4): Not much of a surprise that they beat Brandon, but they suffered their second recent loss, this time in Regina, 77-58. The Cougars' Chelsea Cassano and Jessica Lynch pulled down 10 and 14 rebounds and 16 and 11 points, respectively, and out-rebounded the Pandas 50-37. The U of A only hit 2 of 15 three-point attempts. Then they beat Brandon 81-53. Not much to say there.

6. Toronto (NR): Their only challenge this weekend was against Queen's, whom they beat 75-71 at home and needed a big push at the end to do so. 20 points from Alaine Hutton and 23 from Nicki Schutz helped them out; 17 of those 43 came in the Blues' 23-point fourth. Hutton also had 18 against RMC the next night.

7. Memorial (#7): Upset by the X-Women last night and the rematch goes this afternoon. Chad Lucas has officially bestowed the word "legit" on St. F.X. so maybe their 27 spot in the RPI is a little low. As for Memorial, Victoria Thistle led with 19. Today's game went the Sea-Hawks' way, 65-49, but no stats are available at this time.

8. Regina (#5): See above for the Alberta game. Brittany Read led the team with 18 points in that game and added three blocks. They then gave the Huskies a good first half, but lost by 28 in the end. By way of Tim Switzer, we learn that coach Dave Taylor wasn't too impressed with that game. Cassano added 13 points to her Friday 16, meaning she's only four short of 1000 career as well.

9. Dalhousie (NR): Dal beat UPEI 71-58, then hosted the Capers. Let's go back to Chad Lucas for this one: "The Tigers looked way more in sync than the last time they played Cape Breton; they moved the ball well, recording 18 assists, and they did a great job of going inside where Laurie Girdwood had 26 points. Alex Legge is rounding into form as well after missing the first semester with a knee injury. She had 17 points tonight. This team is starting to click, and is going to be the force that everyone expected down the stretch." Note that Girdwood shows up below on our list of top statistical performers, so Lucas is probably on the nose here.

10. UBC (NR): Let's defer their games to whoever wrote the recaps, since they were actually there. First, Winnipeg: "Neither side was able to get any separation in the early going amid the tough defensive play, and the Wesmen settled for a slim 27-25 lead at halftime. [...] [The 'Birds] went on to outscore the Wesmen 21-13 in the [third], and the defence did the rest, holding Winnipeg to 21.4% field-goal shooting in the second half to prevent any hope of a comeback." And now, Manitoba: "UBC led 27-17 at the break after holding the Bisons to just 27.3% shooting from the floor in the first half. Manitoba responded after half time with a 26-point output but the T-Birds managed to ride out the storm and maintained a two-point lead heading into the final frame. [...] The veteran duo of Leanne Evans and Candace Morriset came up big in the fourth quarter for the T-Birds, combining for 10 points and six rebounds as UBC sealed the victory."

Other teams in the CIS Top 10 include Winnipeg (22nd in RPI), Calgary (11th), and Cape Breton (17th). The Dinos lost to Lethbridge last night, which seems like an upset, but when you play a team four times in two months, it's hard to expect more than three wins.


Top performances of the week against non-Brandon teams (explanation here):
23.8, Ashley Hill (Calgary, 1/16 against Lethbridge)
22.3, Laurie Girdwood (Dalhousie, 1/17 against Cape Breton)
19.4, Bess Lennox (Western, 1/17 against McMaster)
19.1, Victoria Thistle (Memorial, 1/17 against StFX)
19.0, Nathifa Weekes (McGill, 1/17 against Concordia)