TORONTO – The Algoma Thunderbirds bounced-back from their Day 1 defeat at the 2012 adidas/VSP Sports Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Women's Basketball Championship to win the first game of Day 2 at Seneca's College's Newnham Gymnasium.

The Thunderbirds handed the Humber Hawks a 54-38 loss to eliminate the Hawks from medal contention this weekend. Algoma had dropped their first game of the OCAA Championship to the George Brown Huskies, 58-52, on Thursday. The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, still have the opportunity to contend for an OCAA bronze medal, should they win their next game on Saturday, March 3 at 11 a.m. versus the loser of tonight's match between the Seneca Sting and the Fanshawe Falcons.
 
The Thunderbirds struck early and often this afternoon shooting better than 50 percent from the field in the first half, taking a 32-20 lead into the break. As Thunderbirds' OCAA All-Star and CCAA All-Canadian, Corina Bruni, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., went, so did Algoma. Bruni distributed the ball with precision dishing out a game-high seven assists with 11 points and five rebounds.  The game's high scorer was Bruni's team-mate and OCAA All-Star, Kayla Kiessig, of Thunder Bay, Ont., who notched 12 points and four rebounds for the Thunderbirds. Kiessig was named adidas/VSP Sports Player of the Game for Algoma.
 
The Hawks were unable to consistently deliver the offensive and defensive games that they would have liked.  Humber finished the game shooting less than 27 percent from the field and trailed by as many as 15 points in the game. Despite these struggles, Humber received strong contributions from rookie centre Chioma Oriuwa, of Brampton, Ont., who recorded eight points, three rebounds and four steals and fourth-year point guard Maria Suriani, of Hamilton, Ont., who finished with six points and four boards.  Second-year centre, Kara Barsevich, of Orillia, Ont., was named Player of the Game for Humber after her five point, five rebound effort in the loss.

Source: Seneca College