Martlet hoopsters seeded seventh for CIS Final 8 championship tourney

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Martlet hoopsters seeded seventh for CIS Final 8 championship tourney

Published: 11 March 2012

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CALGARY - The McGill Martlets, champions of the RSEQ conference, are seeded seventh for next weekend's CIS women's basketball Final 8 at the University of Calgary. The seeding was announced Sunday for the 2012 CIS tournament, which is set to kick off Saturday at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary. The eight-team competition concludes next Monday, March 19 with the gold medal final at 7 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (9 p.m. Eastern).

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The Martlets, who are making their seventh appearance at Nationals but their first since 1996, will open the tourney against No. 2-seeded Canada West champion UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday at 12 noon (Mountain). 听McGill, which is hoping to become only the third Quebec team to capture a national title, are 5-10 lifetime at the event, winning bronze in 1996 with a 75-72 overtime victory over Western at Quebec City. The Martlets are scheduled to fly out of Montreal on Wednesday afternoon. Before leaving, they are slated to practice on Monday and Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

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Other first-round contests will see Ottawa battle Saskatchewan at 2 p.m. and defending champion Windsor taking on Acadia at 5 p.m. The Regina Cougars are the tournament favourites, while their provincial counterparts the Saskatchewan Huskies earned a wild card berth. Rounding out the seeding behind Cougars are the No. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA champions), No. 4 and defending champion Windsor Lancers (East Regional champions), No. 5 Acadia Axewomen (AUS champions), No. 6 Saskatchewan Huskies (wild card) and No. 8 Calgary Dinos (host).

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Shaw TV and NBA TV Canada will carry the two Sunday semi-final games live. Shaw TV will also carry the final live, while NBA TV Canada will broadcast the final on a two-hour tape delay (9 p.m. local / 11 p.m. ET). SSN Canada will have live webcasts of all 11 contests, including the main and consolation brackets.

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The Cougars, who had their undefeated streak snapped at 23 games in the Canada West final against UBC, were awarded the No. 1 seed after holding that ranking all season in the CIS Top 10. They earned their ticket to the Final 8 after winning the West Regional Saturday night with an 85-62 win over Brock. They will face the host Dinos in the final quarterfinal on Saturday, March 17 at 7 p.m. MT.

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The Huskies, who lost the West Regional semi-final to Brock Friday night, were selected as the wild card entry by the committee and enter as the No. 6 seed.

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With their 2011 championship on their home floor, the Lancers snapped Canada West's vice-like grip on the Bronze Baby after teams from the West (including the now defunct Great Plains conference) had won 19 consecutive banners, dating back to 1991.

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Championship website:

Note: A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday.

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SEEDING

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1. Regina Cougars (West Regional champions: 20-0 regular season / 5-1 playoffs)

2. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions: 15-3 regular season / 4-0 playoffs)

3. Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA champions: 19-3 regular season / 4-1 playoffs)

4. Windsor Lancers (East Regional champions: 20-2 regular season / 4-1 playoffs)

5. Acadia Axewomen (AUS champions: 17-3 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)

6. Saskatchewan Huskies (Wild card: 15-5 regular season / 3-2 playoffs)

7. McGill Martlets (RSEQ champions: 11-5 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)

8. Calgary Dinos (Host: 14-6 regular season / 0-2 playoffs)

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CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (all times MOUNTAIN TIME)

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NOTE: Live webcast of all games on SSN Canada. Semi-finals will be broadcast live on Shaw TV and NBA TV Canada, and the final will be broadcast live on Shaw TV and on a two-hour tape delay on NBA TV Canada.

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Friday, March 16

8:00 to 16:00 Team Practices

18:00 All Canadian Gala (Sheraton Suites Eau Claire)

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Saturday, March 17

12:00 Quarter-final #1: No. 2 UBC vs. No. 7 McGill

14:00 Quarter-final #2: No. 3 Ottawa vs. No. 6 Saskatchewan

17:00 Quarter-final #3: No. 4 Windsor vs. No. 5 Acadia

19:00 Quarter-final #4: No. 1 Regina vs. No. 8 Calgary

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Sunday, March 18