Queen's Women's Basketball will play for a national championship. The Gaels advanced to the U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 Championship Game for the first time in program history after defeating the Alberta Pandas 72-62 in the semifinals Saturday afternoon in Sydney, N.S.

After a slow first half, Queen's found their shooting stroke and took over the game, outscoring the No. 2 seed Pandas by double digits down the stretch to secure the 10-point win.

"I thought it was a great basketball game," head coach Claire Meadows said after the win. "They shot over 50 per cent from the floor in the first half so we knew we had to tighten up our D, and that was the approach that we took in the second half. And then we obviously had some shots fall as well and that always helps."

Laura Donovan (London, Ont.) led the Gaels' strong shooting effort in the second half, finishing the game with a game-high 21 points off the power of six three-pointers. Donovan, who was celebrating her birthday on Saturday, was named Queen's Player of the Game in the win.

"It felt amazing, I can't even put words to it," Donovan said after the game. "When we were on the court with 14 seconds left and we were up by eight, I looked at a couple of my teammates and we all got chills just thinking about the fact that we've worked so hard for this. It's been our goal since the beginning of the year. I'm just so proud of everybody."

Bridget Mulholland (Kingston, Ont.) had a second straight solid effort in the U SPORTS nationals, controlling play on both ends of the court and finishing with another double-double, recording 13 points and 10 rebounds. 

And Julia Chadwick (Ottawa, Ont.) was solid on both ends of the court as well. The U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while adding three steals.

"This group has put in a ton of work, they're deserving of this opportunity," Meadows continued. "We had a great season, and the season that we had lined us up to get to this spot. I'm super proud of them."
 

The first half was tightly contested, with Alberta taking a one-point lead into the second quarter before increasing their lead to four points at half time. Queen's would battle back and take a late third quarter lead they would not relinquish.

Queen's solid shooting effort was a big reason for the semifinal win, with the Gaels finishing 37 per cent from the floor and an impressive 48 per cent from beyond the arc, while holding Alberta to 42 per cent from the floor and just nine per cent from three-point range.

It was a total team effort for Queen's as well, with the bench outscoring Alberta's 20-5. Mikalya McFarlane (Kingston, Ont.) and Bella Gaudet (Ottawa, Ont.) both put in strong efforts all game long. McFarlane finished the game with nine points while Gaudet added eight.

One year after earning their first national medal in program history, a bronze on home court, Queen's Women's Basketball will play for a gold medal. The Gaels will take on the winner of the second semifinal between the Carleton Ravens and St. Mary's Huskies, on Sunday at 5 p.m. EST. The game can be viewed on CBC Gem, CBCSports.ca, and the CBC YouTube page.

"Having the experience of playing in tight, intense games that have a lot on the line, that experience comes in handy, especially when it comes to close games," Donovan said. "We just have to remember to have fun and play our game." 

"We've worked for this all season," said Meadows. "We've played in big games, we've played in tight games, we've played in front of big crowds. We have to just do the same thing tomorrow. Go out and play basketball as we've done so far."