SUDBURY, ON - The Alberta Pandas stole one point in the 10th end, earning a 5-4 win over the Dalhousie Tigers in the 2023 U SPORTS Final. The win gives the Pandas their 5th U SPORTS Championship in program history, and third in the last four seasons (2018, 2020, 2023).Â
The Pandas now hold the record for most U SPORTS women's curling championships with five, breaking the tie Alberta held with the Laurier Golden Hawks with four each.Â
Alberta advanced to the national final with a 7-6 win over Memorial in the semifinal, which saw the Pandas score five in the 8th end.
The Pandas shot 72% in the national final, led by a 75% mark from skip Serena Gray-Withers. Alberta trailed 4-3 through 8 ends, before scoring one in the 9th and 10th ends.Â
Alberta trailed 2-0 through four ends, with Dalhousie scoring a pair of singles to go along with two blanked ends. The Tigers and Pandas exchanges singles in five and six, before Alberta tied the game with a deuce in seven.
After giving up one in eight, the Pandas scored singles in both the 9th and 10th ends to secure the championship victory.Â
It is the first U SPORTS Championship win for Gray-Withers, third Catherine Clifford, second Brianna Cullen, and lead Zoe Cinnamon.Â
