The annual Concordia-Reebok tournament will feature some exceptional women's basketball action when four of the top teams in Ontario and Quebec meet up Dec. 28-30 at Concordia gym.
The Windsor Lancers, the No. 1-ranked team in CIS women’s basketball, will be the early favorite at the tournament. The Lancers have a 7-0 win-loss record and are in first place in the OUA West conference.
The Carleton Ravens will be serious challengers as well. The Ottawa-based team is ranked No. 5 in the CIS. They boast a 6-2 record and are in first place in the OUA East conference.
The McGill Martlets will join the Concordia Stingers as the Quebec entries. The Martlets are 2-2 in RSEQ action, while the Concordia is in first place in Quebec with a 4-1 record. The Stingers were ranked No. 10 in the country late in November but slipped out of the Top 10 when the last rankings came out Dec. 4.
“It is a high quality tournament,” says Concordia head coach Keith Pruden. “Our expectation is to face two very difficult opponents and to compete. We are looking forward to a chance to test ourselves against Windsor and we are especially looking forward to a rematch with Carleton.”
In preseason action, the Ravens defeated the Stingers 66-54 on Oct. 21.
In addition to great basketball action, the tournament will be part of the CIS’s Shoot for the Cure, a fundraising campaign for the fight against breast cancer. Shoot for the Cure has been an overwhelming success since it was launched in the fall of 2007 with more than half a million dollars ($512,394.58) in donations to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and other related charities.
Proceeds from the sales of tournament T-shirts and donations collected at the event will be contributed to the Shoot for the Cure campaign.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Dec. 28
Windsor vs. McGill – 6 p.m.
Carleton vs. Concordia – 8 p.m.
Dec. 29
Carleton vs. McGill – 6 p.m.
Windsor vs. Concordia – 8 p.m.
Dec. 30
Carleton vs. Windsor – 11 a.m.
