The March madness of national championships is a little bit different each time.
Vancouver Island University’s women’s basketball team will crash the court in Windsor, Ont., at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championships this week, the program’s third appearance at nationals in the past four years.
“It’s a lot different from the first one,” said Bill McWhinnie, the team’s coach. “I think we’re more aware of what it takes to win at that level and what goes on when you get out there…
“Our goals are always to win, but I think we’ll be a little more prepared and a little more focused this year.”
The Mariners aren’t the favourites at nationals, but they have all the credentials after winning the PacWest regular-season title and then the provincial championship.
“I think we’re peaking just at the right time,” said Jamie MacFarlane, team captain. “Keeping the momentum coming into nationals, I think, is really important for us. We’ve just got to stay focused, stay together. ‘Tough it together’ is what we always say.”
The team is close to peak form, said Lanae Adams, VIU guard.
“In basketball you can always get better and so you’ll never be 100 per cent, but I think we’re reaching closer and closer,” she said. “We’re starting to play better, we’re starting to play more as teammates and everything’s just flowing and working.”
She said teams at nationals will be a lot better than the opponents VIU faced in conference play, as the players will be faster and more athletic and the benches will be deeper.
“It’s the best of the best,” Adams said. “The top teams from every single conference throughout the country is going to be there, so we have to play our best to play with the best.”
The Mariners have seen in previous years that the style of basketball at nationals tends to be more aggressive, McWhinnie said.
“I think teams in other provinces are allowed to play a little more physical. We’re fine with that,” he said. “They’re going to let the kids decide the games a little more and you just have to be physically and mentally tough.”
The No. 6-seeded M’s start out play Thursday (March 17) against the No. 3-seeded Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks, coached by former Mariners men’s basketball coach Todd Warnick. The Dynamiques de Sainte-Foy are the tournament’s No. 1 seed, and the field is so deep that the three-time defending champions, the Nomades de Montmorency, come in as the No. 5 seed.
“You’re talking the best teams in the country and every game’s going to be a battle,” McWhinnie said. “You have to play your best, do all the little things to win, because all the games are going to be close.”
GAME ON … VIU tips off in the tournament opener Thursday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. The game will be webcast at www.ccaa.ca.
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