WINDSOR, Ont. - Fresh off their 65-41 qualifying victory over George Brown Saturday, the St. Clair College women's basketball team departs Wednesday for the OCAA championship tournament hosted by Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ont., at the newly constructed David Braley Athletic and Recreation Centre.

After a short practice Wednesday, the Saints will open the eight-team bracket at 1 p.m. on Thursday against St. Lawrence College (Kingston, Ont.). A pre-tournament breakfast banquet will also take place Thursday morning that includes the presentation of the OCAA league awards.

The St. Clair women finished the regular season with a 14-4 record which was good for second place in the OCAA West region while St. Lawrence was third in the East region with a 12-4 record. St. Lawrence qualified with a 73-63 home court win over Niagara College this past weekend to earn its spot at the provincial championship. The Saints last attended the OCAA championship tournament in the 2010-11 season and last medaled at the 2009-10 championship taking silver.

The Saints finished with three players averaging double figures on the season and top 20 in OCAA scoring. Fifth-year forward Kendyl Rizea (Windsor, Ont./Vincent Massey) led St. Clair at 13.2 PPG which stood 13th in the province in scoring and cleared the glass for 7.4 RPG. Rizea also shot 80.6 per cent from the free throw line which was third in the province.

Fourth-year shooting guard Jaide Lyons (Windsor, Ont./FJ Brennan) was right behind at 13.1 PPG in 14th spot in the OCAA. Rookie forward Shannon Kennedy (Windsor, Ont./St. Joseph's) is always a double-double threat averaging 11.7 PPG while rebounding at 8.3 per game. Fifth-year point guard Kelly Rizea (Windsor, Ont./Vincent Massey) stands fourth in the province in assists at 4.6 per game and will be counted on to feed a well balanced scoring attack for St. Clair.

St. Lawrence will provide a good opposition for the Saints with the OCAA's leading scorer in 6-foot-0 swing player Lacey Knox (Kingston, Ont.) who averages 20.1 PPG to go with 8.3 RPG. Knox was voted the OCAA player of the year last season and a CCAA all-Canadian leading her team to a bronze medal in 2012-13.

See below the schedule for the tournament:

Thursday, February 27
Quarter-Finals
Game 1 - St. Lawrence-K vs. St. Clair - 1 p.m.
Game 2 - Fanshawe vs. Algonquin - 3 p.m.
Game 3 - Mohawk vs. Durham - 6 p.m.
Game 4 - Sheridan vs. Humber - 8 p.m.

Friday, February 28
Bronze Quarter-Finals
Game 5 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 1 p.m.
Game 6 - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 - 3 p.m.
Semi-Finals
Game 7 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 6 p.m.
Game 8 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 - 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 1
Bronze Semi-Finals
Game 9 - Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6 - 9 a.m.
Game 10 - Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5 - 11 a.m.
Bronze Medal Match
Game 11 - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 - 5 p.m.
Winning team presented OCAA Bronze Medal at conclusion of match
Gold Medal Match
Game 12 - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 - 7 p.m.
OCAA Gold and Silver Medals presented at conclusion of match

Coverage of the event can be found below:

WEBSITE: www.mohawkcollege.ca/athletics/ocaawbbchampionship
TWITTER: @MoMountaineers
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/MohawkCollegeAthletics
WEBCASTING: spin.mohawkcollege.ca/mediastreams/mLink
 
Source: St. Clair College