CIS CORNER: GAELS' WIN INSPIRES BAD PUN, RAVE REVIEWS FOR THE UNI-HOCKEY EXPERIENCE

Here's how it went down last night for our university teams of interest from the 613:

• WOMEN'S HOOPS: It's kind of mean, but it's irresistible to say that the Queen's Golden Gaels beat a Carpenter and a bunch of bricklayers.
  
  True story: There was temptation to write last night that the Gaels should let three-time division MVP Cassandra Carpenter have her 25 to 30 points, and make sure no one else on the Lady Vees went off in the OUA East semi-final. Well, Carpenter put up 39, but the Gaels won 64-58, since the rest of the Laurentian was colder than Sudbury in January, shooting 8 for 37. The Tricolour's Claire Meadows and Sarah Barnes put up 25 and 20 points respectively, and the Gaels pulled away when they hit three straight threes midway through the second half. Anne Murphy shared the team lead with six rebounds, so apparently she was a bit of an X factor -- and Meadows didn't have foul trouble, taking just two personals while playing against a dominant offensive player.
  
  Queen's will face No. 7 York in the division final on Saturday.
• MEN'S HOOPS: It'll be Ottawa-Toronto times two in the capital this weekend: the Carleton Ravens draw the York Lions as their semi-final opponent, with the Ottawa Gee-Gees facing the U of T Varsity Blues.
  
  Carleton, of course, was waylaid by that 61-22 halftime score when York visited three weeks ago. U of T beat the Gee-Gees on a last-second basket and lost to Dave DeAveiro's team on a last-second missed free throw. Suffice to say, the capital is in for a great Saturday of hoops.
  
  York ended the Golden Gaels' season last night with a 95-73 quarter-final romp in Toronto; Tut Ruach directed the Lions to a 57-point first half, and the Gaels couldn't buy a board. Cameron Eby (16 points, six rebounds, five assists) had a nice night for Queen's in a losing cause and overall, this was a good season for Rob Smart's team -- they went 19-14, hung in with some very good teams, beat one possible Final 8 team (Ottawa) and lost to another (Victoria, if memory serves) on a buzzer-beater.
• MEN'S HOCKEY: The Gee-Gees go down 3-0 to Trois-Rivieres in Game 1 of the best-of-3 conference semi-final, with Game 2 at the U of O Sports Complex on Friday night. Jordan Watt had 25 saves for the Gee-Gees; ex-Halifax Moosehead Dany Dallaire made 28 for UQTR, who blanked Ottawa for the second time this year.
  
  Speaking of university hockey, Andy Grabia of Battle of Alberta has a great first-person post up about his experience going to a recent Alberta Golden Bears hockey game in Edmonton. Granted, the Golden Bears are a top CIS program, but if the average university game provides one-third as much enjoyment and bang for your buck as the game Andy attended, then it truly is this country's best-kept hockey secret.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.