BRAMPTON, Ont. - While their OCAA West home opener was a tight battle from wire-to-wire - with neither side able to take more than a seven-point advantage at any point - the Sheridan Bruins women's basketball team (4-5, 1-2 OCAA) ultimately ended up on the wrong side of a 61-59 scoreboard against Niagara.
"We just got out-worked by Niagara. They came here and they wanted to win, they showed that they wanted to win and they did it," assistant coach Colleen Robertson said. "What we saw out there was a lacklustre performance from our team - they didn't have any pride to show that they wanted to win at home. At times girls got down on themselves when their offensive game wasn't there [and] instead of digging deep and finding a way out to get of it because they're team needed them, they just put their head down and sulked."
The Double-Blue opened the game on a 6-0 run in the first two minutes, but their pace slowed considerably after that and the two sides were all square at 13 points apiece after one.
Both sides continued to struggle at the offensive end of the floor in the next frame and the Lady Bruins went into halftime clinging to a narrow 23-22 advantage.
Early in the third quarter Sheridan enjoyed their biggest lead of the game, using a 7-1 run to give them a 34-27 cushion.
Niagara responded with an 11-0 run that would give them the lead, 38-34, before an 8-2 run from the home side to close the quarter gave the Lady Bruins a 42-40 lead going into the final stanza.
They pushed the lead back to six, 46-40, but again Niagara had an answer with a 13-2 run giving them a lead they would not relinquish.
In the end, the contest featured eight ties and six lead changes.
Shylanda Saunders had a game-high 29 points - 23 of which came in the second half - while Dainique Campbell was also in double figures with 17.
The club now has a week to prepare for back-to-back games when they host Sault (November 17) and Algoma (November 18).
Robertson says they must get back to playing as a unit instead of as a group of individuals.
"Our team has to be motivated and positive every single game to win," she said. "It can't be an individual thing, it has to be a team. When we play as a team we do amazing things. When we don't play as a team, it shows on the court, so we need to adjust that."
Blue notes: It was Sheridan's 50th home conference game since the program was brought back during the 2005-06 season. They now hold a 45-5 mark in those games.
Source: Sheridan I.T.