Mariners Battle Saints at Nationals
After Thursday loss the Mariners look to rebound on Friday against the OCAA's Saints
The PACWEST champion VIU Mariners opened the CCAA national champion on Thursday and struggled finding their rhythm offensively. They shot just 15% from the field and fell 61-37 to the ACAC champion Olds Broncos.
Madeline Hart came off the bench to score nine points, four of which came from the free throw line. Avery Snider dropped in seven points, grabbed seven rebounds and was named the Player of the Game. Emily Clarke also came off the bench and scored seven. Offensively they committed 19 turnovers.
The Broncos on the other hand shot 35% from the field led by Kristina Bajovic and her game high 17 points. Michaela Allen was also a major factor with 15 points and had a pair of steals. They were outstanding defensively completely shutting down the Mariners offence, giving up just six points in the third quarter.
Friday morning the Mariners will face the St. Clair Saints in a bronze medal quarterfinal at 10:00am PST. The Saints were blasted by the Dawson Blues 87-62 on Thursday. The Saints are the wildcard entry from the Ontario Conference and finished 12-8 during the regular season. Jana Kucera has led their offence all season long averaging 21 points a game. She dropped 23 points against the Blues on Thursday.