TORONTO – Two of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association's (OCAA) top-ranked women's basketball squads will meet in the gold medal game of the 2012 adidas/VSP sports OCAA Championship on Saturday, March 3 at 6 p.m. from Seneca College's Newnham Gymnasium. On the heels of a hard-fought 55-48 win by the Seneca Sting over the Fanshawe Falcons tonight in the semi-finals, the host Sting will meet the reigning OCAA champion Algonquin Thunder in the gold medal final tomorrow evening.
Seneca, the No. 2-ranked team in the OCAA's East Region, and Algonquin, the No. 1-ranked squad, last faced each other in an OCAA Women's Basketball gold medal final in 2006 when the Sting defeated the Thunder to claim the provincial title. The Sting will make their first appearance in an OCAA Women's Basketball Championship gold medal game since 2009 when they lost to the Sheridan Bruins. Seneca last captured the OCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 2007.
The battle for OCAA Championship bronze will be decided by two early games on Day 3 of the tournament. The George Brown Huskies will face the Sheridan Bruins at 9 a.m. tomorrow, while the Fanshawe Falcons will take on the Algoma Thunderbirds at 11 a.m. The winners of both games will advance to the Bronze Medal Game at 4 p.m.
Tonight's semi-final match-up between Seneca and Fanshawe came down to the wire as both teams' defensive intensity increased with the clock ticking down. Late in the fourth quarter, with 33 seconds remaining and Seneca leading by two points, rookie Tara Minicuci, of Richmond Hill, Ont., drained a pair of free throws to increase the Sting lead to four, sealing the victory for the Sting.
Despite trailing for most of the game and by 11 points at half-time, Fanshawe was relentless in its efforts to mount a comeback. The Falcons clawed their way to within one point by the midway mark of the fourth quarter, making the score 41-40 for the Sting, but that was as close as they would come in the game. Falcons guard and OCAA All-Star Kaitlind Dutrizac, of London, Ont., was the game's high scorer with 15 points and six steals earning the adidas/VSP Sports Player of the Game honours for Fanshawe. Natasha Amo, of Toronto, a fellow OCAA All-Star, chipped-in 10 points and five rebounds for the Falcons.
The Sting were led by OCAA First-Team All-Star Tamara Nembhard, of Toronto, who recorded a team-high 12 points and six rebounds. However, it was Minicuci, whose six points, including those two crucial free throws, and four steals, who was named Player of the Game for the Sting. Seneca's Chanel Grellmore, of Scarborough, Ont., had a strong game, shooting four-for-eight from the field, finishing with 10 points and six boards.
Source: Seneca College