BRAMPTON, Ont. - They showed some tremendous spirit in battling back from a 20-point deficit, but ultimately there was too much ground to cover and not enough time do it for the Sheridan Bruins women's basketball team (9-13, 6-8 OCAA), who dropped a 69-57 decision to their rivals from Humber.

"We played hard, we fought hard and we maintained our composure," Sheridan head coach Willie Delas said. "I thought that at times we had some defensive lapses, which allowed them to get easy baskets, but I liked the way we fought. We were right in the ball game."

Humber connected on a three-ball to opening the scoring and would use their deep shooting to great benefit in the opening frame, hitting from downtown three times to lead 21-10 after 10 minutes.

The Double-Blue were able to stay in closer contact during the second quarter, but still lost the frame 18-15, to trail 39-25 at the half.

After only three Sheridan players scored in the first half, the home side had a more balanced attack to start the third quarter, trimming their deficit to 10 before Humber pushed it back to 15, 57-42 heading to the final quarter.

There, they pushed it as high as 20, 64-44, before the Lady Bruins started to rally.

Keyed offensively by Haeven Durrant - who scored 12 of the team's 15 fourth quarter points - the Double-Blue was able to get reduce the margin back to single digits for the first time since the first quarter, trailing 64-55 with less than two minutes to play.

But on the ensuing Humber possession, Marie Maranan drilled a three-ball from the right wing near her team's bench that proved to be the dagger.

With only 67 seconds remaining, Sheridan was never able to even get it back to three-possession game.

Durrant scored a game-high 27, while Shylanda Saunders was also in double figures with 16.

The team has a critical road game on February 10 when they travel to Niagara - with whom they currently are for the final West playoff spot - and Delas says their mental approach is the biggest component he's looking for.

"It's just a matter of us staying together and staying connected," he said. "We need to engage in team play and then again on team defence - that's a key for us, we need to stay totally engaged on defence."

Blue notes: It was a Homecoming for former Lady Bruin Michelle Asare who now plays for Humber, as she scored seven points in 19 minutes.

Source: Sheridan I.T.