CALGARY — The No. 12 seed Manitoba Bisons gave the No. 5 seed Lethbridge Pronghorns all they could handle in the second round of the Canada West playoffs — but came up a basket short in a memorable game on the Mount Royal University campus.
With the 80-77 win, Lethbridge advances to the conference quarter-final, while the loss sends Manitoba home. The Bisons beat the No. 15 seed Thunderbirds to earn their spot in tonight's game.
The first half was in control of the Bisons, leading the first quarter by just one, and extending the lead to three by the end of the second.
At the helm was Lauren Bartlett and Autumn Agar.
Bartlett was invigorating to watch as she stormed the court in tonight's matchup, showing incredible versatility on the hardwood. She demonstrated a textbook, practiced to perfection, pull-up jump shot on multiple occasions within the arc.
Agar tied Bartlett for points on the stats sheet tonight with 15, but her seven rebounds, four steals and two assists put her over the edge and earned her player of the game status for the Manitoba squad.
"I think just our team in general, we have some pretty mobile posts. So, looking for that inside, outside game is really important for us," said Agar.
"I think, luckily for us, we were playing our best basketball here at the end. Looking forward that's continually getting stronger and stronger. It's sad to say but we have two graduating players leaving us, but we do have a very young team looking to get better."
The Pronghorns started the night with a struggle to finish under the rim, but quickly found their footing and their confidence going into the third quarter of play. Lethbridge closed the small gap between themselves and the Bisons, bringing the game to a 60-point tie going into the final 10 minutes of play.
Jessica Haenni was an unstoppable force driving the court, with 26 points on 56 per cent from the field.
Haenni and Bartlett have a near identical play style, with an aggressive defensive presence, quick feet and solid handles.
Manitoba was unable to contain Haenni's play as she dodged and slid through Bisons defenders. This movement earned her tonight's player of the game for Lethbridge.
"I think it was just our energy and our unity as a team. We've talked all year about playing as a team, and we pulled through I think by playing good defence," said Haenni.
"I think we're really just focusing on playing our best basketball. We've had great games this year and so just have to put together a good forty minutes [tomorrow]."
Alongside Haenni was Amy Mazutinec, a fourth-year forward for the Pronghorns.
Mazutinec had good pace, pressure and persistence in play tonight against the Bisons. Her confidence for on-ball defence and when carrying the ball up on attack were a necessity in this Lethbridge win. She was also able to pair her impressive game IQ with strong, accurate passing.
Her play style led her to have 16 points, three steals and eight rebounds.
