By Niagara College Sports Communication Student, Aidan Myles Marcano
November 25, 2022...WELLAND - The Niagara College Knights women's basketball program was looking to ride the momentum of their previous two road wins in their matchup against the visiting Mohawk Mountaineers Thursday night at the Welland Campus Centre. Coming into last night's tilt against the 1-5 Mohawk Mountaineers, Niagara put their winning streak on the line and dominated in their 60-25 win over the struggling Mountaineers.
Mohawk was in tough after the Knights had taken a convincing 36-14 lead at the half and continued to pile it on, keeping Mohawk to just single digits through the final two quarters.
The Knights were led by the top performances of their backcourt, second year guards Taryn Mitchell and Jamira Rousseau. Mitchell led the Knights in scoring with 23 points on 43% shooting from the field, while Rousseau led the way on the defensive end of the floor with 10 rebounds and 3 blocks along with 5 points.
When asked about the defensive performance from Rousseau, Niagara College head coach Chris Rao was quick to mention his entire team's performance on the defensive end saying "It's something we've been talking about, getting our guards to rebound more but I thought all of our guards rebounded well tonight." Rao went on to praise the team effort on the boards. "Jamira doesn't grab ten rebounds if Kate Roth or Molly Taylor or Eden Ferraro or Angelica Lapensee aren't (boxing out) people down low. Those numbers reflect us as a team."
When asked what made his team so effective on the defensive end, head coach Rao was quick to point out the communication between his team. "The girls executed the plan and talked a ton, we've got some really good players on this team and they were able to show why they are good players."
The Knight's defence was very effective as they forced the Mohawk Mountaineers to shoot just 11.4% from the field.
Taryn Mitchell was undoubtedly the player of the game scoring 22 while adding four rebounds, one assist, two steals and two blocks. She shot 8-19 from the field while adding 3 three pointers.
The Niagara College women's basketball team has now won three straight games improving to 4-3 on the season and will look to continue their winning ways when the undefeated Humber Hawks (6-0) visit Niagara for the Knights final home game before Christmas, on December 1 at 6:00pm.
