Women’s Basketball Finish 4th at Provincials

Sarnia, ON – The St. Clair College Women's Basketball team ended their season Sunday afternoon in Sarnia with a 67-52 loss in the Bronze Medal game at the OCAA Final Four Provincial Championship that was hosted by Lambton College. 

The Saints had a brief 4-point lead in the early stages but then fell behind 17-12 by the end of the first quarter.  Niagara then held St. Clair to just three field goals in the second quarter and increased their margin to 35-21 by halftime. The Saints started to claw their way back in the third and only trailed by eight points at one stage but entered the fourth down 46-37.  Niagara put the contest out of reach down the stretch widening the gap to 18 points by the final minute. 

A poor shooting performance by the Saints saw them register below 20% overall from the floor and were outscored 32-4 in the paint.  St. Clair did force 23 Niagara turnovers which resulted in 19 points in response.  But Niagara outrebounded the Saints 62-47 so staying within striking distance was an uphill battle for St. Clair even though they recorded 14 more shot attempts.   

Ania Buklarewicz (Mississauga, ON) was named Player of the Game for St. Clair after scoring 14 points to go with 5 rebounds but no other Saints joined her in double figures.  Kaitlyn Overeem (Brantford, ON) scored 9 points in her last post-secondary game for the Saints adding 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals along with a blocked shot.  Janae Smith (Warren, MI) had another good effort which filled the stat sheet with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists.  Rookies Lily Collins (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) and Chelsea Crep (Belle River, ON/St. Anne) each chipped in with 8 points apiece off the bench. 

St. Clair Women finished with a 19-9 overall record this past season which included a 13-3 regular season conference mark that led to a fourth-place finish in the OCAA.