The Dalhousie Tigers came away with a big 71-67 overtime victory over the Cape Breton Capers in each team's final game of the season. The Tigers finished the season with a 14-6 record, while the Capers finish with a 9-11 record. This was the Tigers best regular season since 2009.
Courtney Thompson led the Tigers with a game-high 21 points despite having a tough shooting day. She broke Carolyn Wares' Dalhousie single-season scoring record, finishing the season with 478 points overall. She also finishes her AUS regular season career tied for 11th in AUS all-time scoring with 1498 career points over her five-year career.
Thompson, along with teammates Robbi Daley and Rebecca Nuttall, were honored by coach Anna Stammberger after the game as they played their final home games with the black and gold. Thompson was also given a framed jersey for her stellar career with the Tigers.
Kristy Moore ha 16 points for the Tigers, while Shalyn Field came up huge with 15 boards and ten points. Tessa Stammberger added seven points and seven boards.
Alison Keough had a team-high 20 points to lead the Capers in the loss, and she grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds. Madison Munro went 6-10 from the field as she dropped 15 points for the Capers, while Rasheeka Gunn finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Colleen Keane had 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 7-0 run to begin the game, but the Capers came right back with a run of their own as they held the Tigers to just two points in the final seven minutes of the first quarter as they went on a 14-2 run to end the quarter up 14-9.
The Tigers found their offensive groove in the second quarter, pouring 22 points on the Capers as they fought back. The Tigers held a slim two-point lead late in the second quarter, but Madison Munro scored with 24 seconds left and the teams entered halftime tied at 31.
Capers forward Alison Keough led all scorers at the half with nine points and 12 boards at the half, while Rasheeka Gunn had four points and five rebounds.
Courtney Thompson and Kristy Moore each had a team-high eight points to lead the Tigers, while Shalyn Field came off the bench to score five points and grab seven rebounds in the half.
The Tigers offense seemed to sputter early in the third quarter, as the Capers strong interior defense prevented them from getting almost any good looks inside. With just under two minutes left, Christina Brown was fouled going up for the layup, but she absorbed the contact and sank the bucket to give the Tigers and they held a slim 47-44 edge going into the final quarter.
With just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Colleen Keane put the Capers ahead 57-56 with a jumper, but Shalyn Field answered right back with a three off a feed from Courtney Thompson to put the Tigers up 59-57.
After Rasheeka Gunn grabbed a rebound off a missed shot, she threw a long outlet pass to Alison Keough, who was all alone and she looked to have an easy chance to tie the game up at 62. Courtney Thompson hustled back, running the floor and stripping Keough. Thompson was then fouled and the Tigers led 63-60 with 34 seconds left in the quarter.
With just four seconds, Alison Keogh grabbed an offensive rebound off a miss from Valentina Primossi and put it right back up, as she absorbed a foul and converted on the and-one to tie the game at 63 as the Capers bench exploded with excitement.
With a one last chance to win the game in regulation, the Tigers inbounded the ball to Courtney Thompson, who fed Tessa Stammberger. She drove left but she missed a last-second layup that was heavily contested by the Capers as the two teams headed into overtime.
Kristy Moore hit her third three of the game to start overtime as the Tigers gained an early lead in overtime. With the Tigers lead at 70-65 with 30 seconds left, Shalyn Field fouled Valentina Primossi and she went to the line with the opportunity to make it a one-possession game. She missed both free-throws, but the Capers grabbed the board and Rasheeka Gunn made a jumper to make it a 70-67 game. The Capers intentionally fouled Courtney Thompson and she sank one of her free-throws to ice the game 71-67 for the Tigers.
Both teams have guaranteed themselves spots in the 2015 Subway AUS Women's Basketball Championship, held next weekend at the Scotiabank Centre. The Capers will enter as the fifth seed, while the Tigers (at the time of publication) are in first-place. Two teams, the UPEI Panthers and the Saint Mary's Huskies could potentially usurp the Tigers as the top seed, depending on the outcome of Saturday night's game, and the Panthers game tomorrow against the Acadia Axewomen.
You can catch the championship live online at www.AUStv.ca.