OSHAWA, Ont. - The St. Clair College women's basketball team qualified for the OCAA provincial championship tournament with a narrow 66-63 crossover playoff victory over Durham College in Oshawa, Ont., on Saturday night.

Starting quickly, the Saints raced to a 16-8 advantage over the home team after the opening quarter and took their largest lead late in the second quarter at 36-20. A banked buzzer beater triple by Durham to close the first half still saw St. Clair with a 36-23 halftime cushion. Not to go quietly, Durham battled and whittled away at the deficit closing to within a basket in the game's final minute. But the Saints were able to force difficult shots and secured key rebounds down the stretch making just enough free throws to escape with the win.

St. Clair's Shannon Kennedy (Windsor/St. Joseph's) scored a game-high 22 points adding 12 rebounds for the double-double. Nicole Tamm (Windsor/Holy Names) scored 13 points making 9-of-12 from the free throw line to go with six rebounds and four assists for St. Clair. Aleah Marton (Amherstburg/General Amherst) chipped in with nine points but made her presence known with 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Saints. Kennedy made St. Clair's only triples converting four long balls but the difference was on the glass where the Saints held a 62-40 advantage in the game.

Durham's Lindsay Panchan (Ajax) and Victoria Brody (Scarborough) each scored 19 points in the loss. Panchan also added an impressive 14 rebounds and six steals but was held below her OCAA-leading 26 points per game scoring average.

St. Clair now has a 13-1 record in the crossover playoff game with nine wins coming against Durham College alone since the 2001-02 season. The Saints will face a difficult challenge against top ranked Humber College on Thursday in the quarter-finals of the OCAA provincial championship tournament hosted by Seneca College in North York.

Source: St. Clair College