Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Down to just nine players due to a myriad of injuries, the MacEwan Griffins women's basketball team fought tooth and nail against cross-town rival Alberta – the No. 4-ranked team in U SPORTS – before eventually falling 87-66 on Friday night.
Pride is the first word that comes to head coach Katherine Adams' mind after her team refused to pack it in, finishing the game battered with just seven healthy bodies.
"I could not be more proud of this group – their fight, their determination, their resiliency," she said. "I know it would have been really easy to say, 'you know what? We're not at our best right now and we're playing a really tough team and we'll try again once we're healthy.' But they didn't roll over. They fought.
"I couldn't ask for any more. They gave us everything they could."
MacEwan's Noelle Kilbreath had a monster performance in an impressive game high 33:14 of work, producing the first double double of her Canada West career with a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds. Shannon Majeau added 11 points in 32:48 on the court.
"We know she's a special player," said Adams of Kilbreath. "She has so many tools and weapons and is such a competitor that it's great to see her put that on display and perform the way she's capable of. It was a great game for her. I'm really, really proud of her efforts."
Mackenzie Cook led Alberta with 14 points, while Nadeen Wu and Emma Kary chipped in 12 apiece. Claire Signatovich was tough to stop inside with a game-high 13 rebounds and five points.
Shannon Majeau puts up a shot against the Pandas on Friday. She finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 32:48 on the court (Eduardo Perez photo).
Alberta won the rebounding battle by a large margin (56-37, including 29 offensive boards) as their size in the paint was too much for the short-handed Griffins. Down three of their four tallest players due to injury – Mackenzie Farmer, Darian Mahmi and Makenzie Reeve – MacEwan made due as best as they could.
"Truthfully, did we do some really good things at times? Absolutely," said Adams. "It's hard to evaluate (our overall play) considering the situation because we were forced to do some things we don't normally do and we were forced to play people in some positions they don't normally play.
"There were times when our tallest player on the floor was 5-9. When you're battling a team that's so physical, so dominant inside, that presents challenges. Did we get outrebounded? Yeah. But did we fight like heck to limit that and make them see something different? Yeah.
"We did the best we could and I'm so proud of them."
