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Capers buoyed by 'sea of orange'

Seniors - Women's Basketball

ERIN POTTIE
The Cape Breton Post
SYDNEY — Cape Breton University's athletics director said apart from their win, the highlight of hosting the 2010 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Basketball Championship was the "sea of orange" created by fans at the Sullivan Field House.

For the fourth time in the team's history, and for the second year in a row, the lady Capers won the regional tournament and acceptance into the national competition taking place this year at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., March 12-14.

Supported by their fans, many wearing orange, the Capers beat the Saint Mary's Huskies 69-60 during the final on Sunday.

"The Cape Breton community has always been strong sports supporters and I think they really rallied around this team," said CBU's John Ryan. "When you see that sea of orange you know the Capers are in town and that was very prevalent last night and today. The environment certainly helped them for sure."

Well over 1,000 people crowded into the field house both Saturday and Sunday despite a blast of winter that dumped up to 15 centimetres of snow across Cape Breton on Saturday and competing sports entertainment such as the Olympics.

Six teams competed for the AUS banner, including Memorial, St. FX, Dalhousie and Acadia.

"We heard many comments from the participants, they thought it was a first-class event," said Ryan. "One lady who's been to a number of these championships thought it was the best one yet."

While unsure of the economic impact the games had on Cape Breton, Ryan said he's hoping for a repeat performance during the men's AUS basketball championship at larger venue, Centre 200 in Sydney, in two weeks.

"Hopefully we'll have close to 5,000 fans there during the Capers games," said Ryan, adding that traditionally the men's tournament is hosted at the Metro Centre in Halifax, but this year it was interrupted by the Tim Hortons Brier.

Wondering how the team celebrated their big win?

Ryan said athletes and team officials headed to a local restaurant to eat and watch the Olympic hockey final between Canada and the United States.

epottie@cbpost.com