Women's Basketball

Redemption for Mariners, who strike CCAA gold

Posted: Mar 18, 2023

Gold Medal Game: VIU Mariners 60, Géants de Saint-Jean 54

The VIU Mariners are 2023 CCAA Women’s Basketball National Champions. A 60-54 victory sealed the deal for the Mariners over the Géants de Saint-Jean.

It was an overall redemption story for VIU, who a season ago also made the championship game, claiming a silver medal in 2022.

Against Saint-Jean, the Mariners jumped out to an early lead after the first quarter, leading 15-8.

Prior to the half Saint-Jean would go on a run that would end with them leading by two heading into the break.

Saint-Jean would continue to add to their lead, but their offense would go cold in the final quarter, shooting 9.5 per cent. The Mariners defence would hold Saint-Jean to four-points over the final 10 minutes and took over the lead early in the fourth to claim the national banner.

Harriette Mackenzie was named tournament MVP after producing three double-doubles over three games. In the gold medal game Mackenzie put up a monster 17-points and 19-rebounds.

The 4imprint Player of the Game for VIU was Chloe Scaber with nine points. Clara Bergeron of Saint-Jean would also earn the honours with 10-points and five rebounds.

Bronze Medal Game: Dawson Blues 87, Red Deer Queens 70

The Dawson Blues captured the 2023 CCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship bronze medal with a dominant 87-70 win over the Red Deer Queens.

The Blues controlled the game from tip-off, taking a 29-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

Red Deer would find their offensive game in the second quarter, but Dawson would settle back in defensively in the third quarter to keep a hold on their lead for the remainder of the game.

The 4imprint Player of the Game for Dawson was Marie-Denise Ntambue with a team-high 23-points. For Red Deer, the Player of the Game was Amy Szymanek with 13-points.