Falcon women finish eighth in Canada

Fanshawe's women's basketball team came away from the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championships in Truro, Nova Scotia with an eighthplace finish. Despite not having won any games, they battled hard against the best teams in the country.

They faced off in their first game against the St. Thomas Tommies who were last year's CCAA bronze medalists. The game was hard fought, the Falcons led after the first quarter, holding onto a two point lead going into the second.

Natasha Amo and Felicia Mazerolle's combined points accounted for 73 per cent of Fanshawe's scoring. Despite the close score in the first quarter, the Tommies came out guns blazing to go on a 16-0 run in the second quarter. This would prove to be the Falcons' undoing, as they were unable to come back, ending in a 76-53 loss.

Looking to redeem themselves in their second game, the women went up against Vancouver Island University. The first quarter wasn't looking too hot for the Falcons as they trailed by six going into the second.

The Falcons pushed hard in the fourth quarter, picking up 27 points to close within 13 points of Vancouver. Despite the effort at the end, it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit and Vancouver Island won the game 68-55.

The Falcons were outmatched in rebounds, as Vancouver dominated the Falcons 51-30.

Janine De Leon and Mazerolle accounted for the majority of Fanshawe's scoring.

As a result of their loss, Fanshawe did not advance to the semi-finals, and their medal hopes were dashed.

Their final game against the Mount St. Vincent University Mystics would determine who would take seventh place in all of Canada.

Falcon associate coach Brittany Denneny thought that despite the outcome of the games, the girls performed well.

“For the level of competition, we definitely stood our ground. The girls worked really hard at their game and they were tired ... The other teams just had a little bit more endurance than we did.”

Looking for some redemption for earlier games, the Falcons went into their final game knowing what to expect and what they needed to do better.

The showdown against the Mystics didn't disappoint. The first quarter was shaky for the Falcons who trailed by eight points after the first quarter; they narrowed it down to within six points after the first half. Falcons head coach Matt White turned it around in the second half. The Falcons managed to claw their way back to within two points. It was too late, though; the Mystics took possession and fended off the Falcons to win 67-62.

The women struggled throughout the tournament getting their offence off the ground; their scoring was limited to just a few players. Key offensive players of the tournament included all-star point guard Mazerolle, Amo and De Leon.

“We were happy with the way they worked until the end of every game, we just couldn't finish,” said Denneny.

The women had a fantastic OCAA season going in, winning 16 games and losing two in the regular season, which culminated in a silver medal at the OCAA championship. This marks coach Matt White's first national championship appearance, and it won't be his last. Some fine-tuning of the team coupled with key returning players will bring them back better than ever next year.

“The biggest thing for us is conditioning and focusing on outlasting the other teams,” said Denneny.

Despite not coming away with the win, she was proud of the team.

“Every game we were definitely proud of them, they played with so much intensity even when we were down.”