Women's Basketball Postseason Teams

1983 NCAA Division II Elite Eight

The 1982-83 Canisius College women’s basketball team can still make the claim as the program’s most successful team ever.

After closing out the regular season with a 20-4 record, the Golden Griffins went on to win the 1983 NYSAIAW Tournament title and the EAIAW crown before earning the school’s first berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Blue and Gold took full advantage of their bye in the first round to beat C.W. Post 71-59 at home to set up a meeting with Southern Connecticut in the quarterfinal round March 19, 1983.

The Griffs saw their magical season end that afternoon in the Koessler Athletic Center after Southern Connecticut’s Kathy Curley poured in 17 points to help lead the Owls to a 63-60 win over Canisius. Canisius’ Debbie Laux scored a team-high 15 points to go with nine rebounds in the loss, with teammate Kara Haun chipping in 13 points, seven blocks and five assists in 39 minutes of action. The win allowed the Owls to advance to the Final Four, while Canisius saw its season end with a 28-5 mark.

The Griffs collected a number of team and individual accolades throughout the season under second-year head coach Sister Maria Pares. The team’s 28 wins still stands as a school record, and the No. 8 national ranking at the end of the year marks the only time in school history the Canisius women’s basketball program has been nationally ranked.

2005 MAAC Champions — NCAA Tournament First Round

The Canisius College women’s basketball team made college basketball history during the 2004-05 season, earning

the school’s first Division I NCAA Tournament bid after winning the 2005 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship in the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y. Canisius held off rival Marist to score a 60-59 win over the Red Foxes to become the first women’s basketball program from western New York to get an invitation to the “Big Dance.”

The Golden Griffins took their 21-9 overall record into the national postseason and learned their fate on Selection Sunday. Canisius was chosen as the No. 15 seed in the Chattanooga Region and headed to Chapel Hill, N.C., where the Blue and Gold would meet the second sedded Duke Blue Devils, which earned an at-large bid after closing out the year with a 28-4 record.

Duke forward Mistie Williams posted 21 points and nine rebounds, while Monique Currie added 18 points, 10 boards and five assists to lead Duke earned an 80-48 victory in the Dean E. Smith Center Sunday afternoon.

The Golden Griffins finish the season with a 21-10 record, the fifth 20-win campaign in school history and the firstsince the 1989-90 season. Guard Becky Zak led Canisius with nine points, and Jessie Lamparski posted seven points and four assists. Megan Lyte finished with seven points along with Abby Radunske. Cheri Wittlieb scored six points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while teammate Karly Chesko scored six points for the Griffs in the losing effort.

Duke lobbed passes over the Canisius zone inside and shot 23-for-36 in the paint. Free-throw shooting also plagued Canisius as the Griffs went 11-for-18 from the charity stripe.

Canisius trailed 41-24 at halftime, but Zak and Wittlieb opened the second frame with consecutive triples inside the first minute to make the margin 41-30. The Griffs had a chance to trim the lead to nine points as Zak and Radunske broke out on a 2-on-1 fastbreak, but Duke’s Alison Bales tracked back to block Radunske’s layup. Duke ran off nine straight points to take a 50-30 lead with 15:37 remaining.

“While we didn’t win, everybody played hard until the final horn,” Lamparski said after the game. “The coaching staff stressed all week that it’s hard to beat a team that won’t give up. Today’s game was the most fun I’ve had playing basketball.”

Canisius kept the margin within 20 and trailed 58-39 with 9:44 to play, when the Blue Devils pulled away with a 14-2 spurt to take a 72-41 cushion. The lead grew to as many as 34 points as Canisius emptied the bench late in the contest.

NCAA Tournament Notes
Canisius committed a season-low nine turnovers in the game against Duke, which was the first meeting between the two schools... Duke held the Griffs to a season-low 25.4 percent from the field... The Blue Devils, who started five players over 6-foot, outrebounded the Blue and Gold by a 50-30 count and scored 20 second-chance points... Duke’s Alison Bales set a new school record for blocks in an NCAA Tournament game with six... The game was broadcast live on ESPN, the first national TV appearance by a Canisius College women’s basketball team... The Griffs were joined by an ESPN camera crew for head coach Terry Zeh’s pregame speech in the locker room.

2009 Women's NIT

The Canisius College women’s basketball team had its most successful season at the Division I level, winning 24 games and qualifying for the Women's NIT for the first time in program history.

Canisius finished with a 24-9 overall record and 14-4 record in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, finishing in second place and advancing to the title game of the MAAC Championship, falling to Marist. Some highlights from the season:

During the 2008-09 season, the Golden Griffins had one of the best seasons in program history — winning 24 games and achieving a number of individual and team accomplishments:
•   Head coach Terry Zeh became the third coach in program history to be named MAAC Coach of the Year
•    Brittane Russell became the second player in program history to be named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year
•    Ellie Radke became the first player in program history to be named MAAC Sixth Player of the Year
•    Marie Warner was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, the first MAAC women’s basketball player to earn that award since 1996
•    Won a program-record 11 regular-season home games, 11 regular-season road games and had a program-record 11-game road winning streak
•    Canisius set Division I program records for fewest points allowed per game (59.0), fewest turnovers per game, most 3-point field goals in program history (254)
•    Canisius was the only team in the country to rank in the top 15 of 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goals made per game

The Golden Griffins drew Syracuse in the first round of the WNIT, playing at the Carrier Dome on March 18, 2009.
Getting 26 points and Chandrea Jones and 25 points Erica Morrow, and using a 27-10 run to break open the game in the first half, Syracuse defeated the Canisius College women’s basketball team 90-65 in the WNIT First Round in the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night.

The Golden Griffins end the season with a 24-9 record, setting the program’s Division I record for wins in a season (24) and made the program’s second Division I postseason appearance and first appearance in the WNIT.

Senior Amanda Cavo led Canisius with 15 points while senior Marie Warner had 13 points and seven assists. Sophomore Micayla Drysdale had 11 points while junior Brittané Russell had nine points, five rebounds and four assists.

The teams started out cold, with the score staying at 8-4 for a duration of four minutes, 21 seconds in the first half. Canisius then went on an 8-2 run, getting back-to-back 3-pointers from Drysdale. After a jumper from Juanita Ward, Stephanie MacDonald had a layup to give Canisius its only lead of the game at 12-10.

The Orange (17-14) then started their 27-10 run to take control of the game. Morrow had 14 of her 25 points in the first half, with nine of those points coming during the Syracuse run.

The pace slowed in the second half, but Canisius was never able to get closer than 13 points. Warner made it a 44-31 early in the second half, but Morrow scored five straight points to push the lead to 49-31. Jones scored 20 of her 26 points in the second half.

WNIT Game Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 454 games on a 3-pointer by Drysdale in the first half... Canisius and Syracuse played for the 12th time, with the Orange now holding a 10-2 lead in the series... Cavo ends her career first in the Canisius record books with 267 3-pointers and an 83.3 free-throw percentage, along with 122 games played... Cavo finished third in single-season free-throw percentage (86.8)... Drysdale takes over the top spot on the career 3-point field goal percentage list at 41.4 percent as the sophomore reached the minimum of 100 made 3-pointers... Drysdale finished second in single-season 3-point field goal percentage (42.2)... Warner finishes sixth in the single-season record books with 529 points... The 33 games played by Canisius matches the 1982-83 team for most games played by any Canisius team.