HAMILTON, Ont. - The St. Clair women's basketball team advanced to the OCAA provincial championship semi-final with a narrow 64-61 win over St. Lawrence at Mohawk College on Thursday afternoon.

St. Clair quickly jumped ahead in the early stages with the help of shooting guard Jaide Lyons (Windsor, Ont./FJ Brennan) who scored 13 points in the first half alone. St. Lawrence remained close due to some aggressive offensive rebounding which created some second chance points.

St. Clair led 19-12 after the first quarter and extended its lead to 34-24 by half time. The Saints had their largest lead in the third quarter of 13 points but St. Lawrence played an inspired fourth quarter drawing to within a point in the last two minutes. St. Clair got a pair of free throws late from Lyons to survive the furious comeback.

Lyons was named player of the game for St. Clair and finished with a game-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds. Kendyl Rizea (Windsor, Ont./Vincent Massey) scored 13 points with nine rebounds and three assists. Shannon Kennedy (Windsor, Ont./St. Joseph's) chipped in with 11 points adding nine rebounds and five assists.

St. Lawrence was led by Haley Gourdier who scored 13 points in the loss. OCAA player of the year Lacey Knox was held to just 12 points which was well below her 20.1 per game average.

St. Clair will face No. 2-CCAA ranked Algonquin (Ottawa) on Friday in the OCAA provincial semi-final at 6 p.m. Algonquin, who is the three-time defending OCAA champions, won its quarter-final game against Fanshawe on Thursday by a score of 73-43.

Source: St. Clair College