Women’s Basketball Comeback Falls Short in Hamilton

Hamilton, ON – A gallant second half comeback fell shy as the St. Clair College Women's Basketball team dropped a 64-62 decision to Mohawk College in Hamilton Saturday night.  With the loss the Saints (7-8) drop to 6^th place in the OCAA's West Division and need a win at Niagara on Sunday to improve their final standing heading to the playoffs. 

Mohawk doubled up St. Clair in the first quarter 20-10 and extended their lead to 37-21 by halftime.  After trailing by as much as 18 points the Saints responded in the third and outscored the home team 22-18 before erasing a 12-point deficit midway through the final frame.  St. Clair remained in striking distance the down the stretch and after a pair of steals that led to layups it was a 1-point game.  But Mohawk split on a trip to the free throw line and the subsequent possession led to an errant jumper that rimmed out for the Saints.

St. Clair earned 15 more shot attempts in the game due mostly to a notable 21 offensive rebounds, but they could not turn that into enough second chance points after shooting under 28% from the field.  The Saints put additional pressure on the Mohawk defense forcing their way to the line for 27 attempts but only converted 44% from the charity stripe which proved to be a deciding factor in the outcome. 

St. Clair's Janae Smith (Warren, MI) led all scorers with a game high 22 points and added 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Shae-lyn Murphy (Windsor, ON/Holy Names) recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.  Grace Smrke (Sudbury, ON) was outstanding on the glass with 16 rebounds to go with her 8 points while Lauren Overeem (Brantford, ON) nearly reached a double-double with 9 points and 9 boards. 

Maegan Dorris (Brantford, ON) needed only 12 points to top Mohawk's scorers in the win.    

St. Clair finishes their regular season with a 1:00pm tip at Niagara College in Welland on Sunday.