By Paul Cartledge, Bears and Pandas Athletics
EDMONTON – In their final conference game at home, and third last of the season, the University of Alberta Pandas earned a playoff berth with a 64-57 victory over the MacEwan University Griffins, Saturday night at Saville Community Sports Centre.
Alberta swept the Griffins in the weekend's home-and-home series, improving their record to 10-8 while Fraser Valley lost to UNBC, falling to 7-11 and clinching the post-season appearance for the Pandas, their 12th consecutive under the tenure of head coach Scott Edwards, who's been leading the Alberta squad for a dozen seasons.
Rookie guard Jenna Harpe scored a team-high 15 points for the home team while third-year guard Vanessa Wild added 13, going 7-for-9 from the charity stripe. In their final regular season game at Saville, senior forward Brianna Carlyon scored 12 points and Elle Hendershot recorded 16 rebounds, her fourth-straight game of 16 or more boards.
Senior guard Paige Knull and fourth-year guard Kayla Ivicak both scored 15 points in the loss for the Griffins, senior forward Kerilynn MacLennan also cracking double digits with 11 points. MacEwan falls to 4-14 on the season, officially being eliminated from the playoffs.
The opening quarter started out slowly on the scoreboard, Alberta earning a 9-4 lead seven minutes into the game, but Knull then scored all the Griffin points in a 7-2 run to tie things up at 11-11.
That change in momentum allowed the road team to take a small lead into the next frame, aided by Lauren Earl missing a potential buzzer-beating trey.
Momentum shifts peppered the second quarter, but MacEwan was able to hold on to their lead, pulling away late in the frame to bring a six-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
Third-year point guard Kristen Monfort-Palomino sank two more buckets to start the third quarter while Alberta, only hitting one basket of 12 in the second quarter, finally hit a deuce after over seven minutes of play between frames, followed up by a trey by Harpe at the shoulder.
Monfort-Palomino responded with a jumper on the next sequence, but the Pandas then scored the next eight points to take the lead.
The Griffins managed to knot the score again at 35-35, but Alberta was regaining their confidence, shooting at over 56% in the field and taking a six-point lead into the final frame.
Their playoff lives on the line, MacEwan had their best quarter in the fourth, shooting at 50% in the frame and cutting the deficit down to two with just over six minutes left, but the Pandas replied with a 12-0 run, Wild personally sinking five of six free throws to put the game out of reach.
With two games left in her regular season career in Canada West, Hendershot sits at 651 total rebounds and 447 defensive rebounds.
The Pandas finish off their season on the road next weekend in Lethbridge against the Pronghorns. The Griffins stay in Edmonton to host the Trinity Western Spartans.