WELLAND, Ont. - The OCAA Women's Basketball Championship tipped off Friday afternoon as Niagara College plays host to the top eight teams in the province at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre.
The opening quarter-final game featured the defending champion Humber Hawks (14-1, 1st West) versus the Conestoga Condors (8-8, 5th West). The highly-ranked Hawks (seventh in the nation) fought off an inspired Condors team, coming from behind for a 60-56 victory. Propelled by suffocating defence the lower-seeded Condors limited the Hawks high-powered offence early building a 15-12 first-quarter lead. The second quarter featured more of the same, with both teams contesting shots and limiting second chances. Conestoga maintained their slight advantage, nursing a 25-23 into the halftime break.
The battle continued in the third quarter with Humber turning up the pressure. The Hawks took a two-point advantage early in the frame, but their surge was answered by OCAA Women's Basketball Player of the Year, Yasmeen Smith. The fifth-year guard's nine third-quarter points put the Condors back on top 39-35 entering the final quarter. Smith led all scorers with 24 points and was named Conestoga's Player of the Game. With their backs against the wall, the resilient Hawks denied the Condors' upset bid. Trailing by one in the closing minute, Kai Watt hit a driving layup to put the Hawks up 57-56. Humber closed out the game by converting three of four from the free throw to ice the victory. Watt led the Hawks with 21 points. The CCAA All-Canadian guard was named Humber's Player of the Game.
Friday's second matchup paired the Redeemer Royals (5-11, 7th West) and the Fanshawe Falcons (10-6, 3rd West). Veteran guards Jessica Jordan and Tanya Spears led a balanced attack, as the Falcons prevailed 62-52. Fanshawe set the tone early with their signature full-court press. Forcing the tempo, the Falcons created eight first-quarter turnovers on their way to an 18-11 lead. Fanshawe's defence was unrelenting, and their transition game helped them stretch the margin to 40-28 at halftime. Redeemer guard Jessica Angelini paced the Royals scoring 12 points before the break. Reserve Spears pitched in nine off the bench to lead the Falcons.
Fanshawe never took their foot off the gas limiting the Royals to one point in the first five minutes of the third quarter on their way to a 53-36 lead moving to the fourth. Despite the deficit, Redeemer remained determined. Extending their defence in the final quarter, the Royals closed to within nine with just over three minutes to play, but they could not sustain their run. Jordan hit a three-point dagger in the waning minutes to end Redeemer's threat. The Falcons went on to a 62-52 win. Angelini finished with a game-high 20 points and was named Redeemer Player of the Game. Jordan received similar honours for Fanshawe filling the stat line with 11 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Spears finished with a double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds of the bench.
The third game of the day saw the No. 5 nationally-ranked Algonquin Wolves (14-0, 1st East) take down the hosts Niagara Knights (9-7, 4th West) through excellent play by their two OCAA East Division First Team All-Stars Libby Hirst and Dasia McDonald. Even with the home court advantage, the top-ranked team in the East Division started strong on both ends of the floor putting up 20 points and holding the Knights to only 12 points in the quarter. The second quarter saw the Wolves draw five quick fouls to enter the bonus only four minutes into the quarter and was able to score 12 points in the half from the charity stripe alone, helping the Wolves to a 13-point lead over the hosts 40-27. Crucial from the line for the Wolves in the first half was Hirst going 5-of-6 for five of her nine first half points.
The Knights were not going down without a fight and came out of the break full throttle on both ends of the court holding the Wolves to only seven points in the third quarter, fighting back to only trail by seven, 47-40, with one quarter left to play. Despite the resurgence in the third quarter and a great second half performance from the OCAA West Division Second Team All-Star Taryn Mitchell scoring eight points and blocking three shots in the second half, the Wolves regained their grip on the game to keep their unbeaten streak alive and see out a 63-53 victory. Both Libby and Mitchell were named Player of the Game for their respective teams.
In the final match up of Friday night's quarter-final games, the No. 15 nationally-ranked Lambton Lions (13-2, 2nd West) overpowered the St. Clair Saints 67-56. The Lions came out the gate strong shooting 10-of-18 from the field in the first quarter to take an early lead 24-13 going into the second quarter. The Lions were led by OCAA West Division First Team All-Star Breanna Pretty who shot a 5-of-6 from the field in the first half to score 12 points the Lions. It was much of the same for the Lions in the second quarter who continued to control the game. The Saints saw some good play out of first year forward Grace Smrke scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds in the first half, but the Saints still trailed 39-26 going into halftime.
The Lions again started strong again in the third quarter going on a 12-2 run. The Lions never shut off on the defensive end as well holding the Saints to only nine third quarter points, leading 58-35 going into the final quarter of the night. The Saints tried to put together a late game comeback outscoring the Lions by 12 points, but it wasn't enough as the Lions held on to seal a 67-56 victory over the Saints. Pretty was named the Player of the Game for Lambton putting up 14 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and two blocks on 50 per cent shooting from the field. OCAA West Division Second Team All-Star Shae-Lyn Murphy was named the Player of the Game for St. Clair putting up 16 points, nine assists and six steals.
The OCAA Women's Basketball Championship continues Saturday, where the first semi-final game will see Fanshawe face off against Humber at 3:30 p.m., then Algonquin will do battle with Lambton in the second semi-final game of the day at 6 p.m. Ticket can be purchased at the gate for $15 for the whole weekend and $10 for the day. Parking in free on evenings and weekends in the general lots. All news, stats, webcasts and up-to-date results can be found on the 2023 OCAA Women's Basketball Championship website: www.ocaa.com/wbb.
Source: Niagara Knights
Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/wbb
Live Webcast: www.ocaa.com/ocaalive
Friday, March 3
Quarter-Finals
Game #1: Humber def. Conestoga 60-56
Game #2: Fanshawe def. Redeemer 62-52
Game #3: Algonquin def. Niagara 63-53
Game #4: Lambton def. St. Clair 67-56
Saturday, March 4
Semi-Finals
Game #5: Humber vs. Fanshawe - 3:30pm
Game #6: Algonquin vs. Lambton - 6pm
Sunday, March 5
Bronze Medal Game
Loser Game #5 vs. Loser Game #6 - 1pm
Winning team presented OCAA Bronze Medal at conclusion of game
Gold Medal Game
Winner Game #5 vs. Winner Game #6 - 3:30pm
OCAA Gold and Silver Medals presented at conclusion of game
- OCAA -
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