November 7, 2022...WELLAND - The Knights women's basketball team recorded their first two losses this weekend during their southern swing road trip to St. Clair and Lambton.
Saturday night's game at the St. Clair Sportsplex saw both teams play even through the early stages before the Saints eventually put some distance between them at 21-18 after the opening frame. The Knights were unable to stop the Saint's Alyssa Lucier through the first half as she cruised her way to 22 points of her teams 41-32 lead at the half.
Niagara made a push in the third and managed to come within a basket, but the Saints maintained their lead moving into the fourth quarter, 55-50.
St. Clair turned up the head in the fourth extending their lead as much as 19 points before eventually cruising to a 80-64 win.
The Knights were ahead in many statistical categories throughout the game, but the Saints exposed mistakes forcing 21 turnovers and scored 21 points in return.
The blue and white headed to Sarnia on Sunday looking to bounce back from the loss and take on the Lambton Lions (2-0). The Knights were in tough with the 9th place nationally ranked Lions, but Niagara put up a battle of their own as the 13th ranked team in Canada.
The first quarter was an ugly one for Niagara with the Lions outscoring the Knights 18-7 just before the end of the first frame. The Knights were able to claw their way back in before the buzzer but still trained 21-15 to Lambton.
The Knights picked up steam through the second quarter and managed to get on top of the Lions lead thanks to a three in the closing seconds of the first half by Janee Harrison to go up 32-31.
Niagara continued to push through the third quarter, again maintaining a small lead to head in to the fourth and final frame up 47-45.
The fourth proved to be an exciting finish for both teams eager to hang on to the lead and secure the win. In what was a defensive battle through the final 10 minutes, the Lions managed to take back the lead at 50-49 with under three left in the game. The Lions managed to squeak out the win and stay undefeated with a 54-50 win over Niagara.
Janee Harrison picked up 12 points in Sunday's loss, while Jamira Rousseau contributed 11. Rousseau was also the Knights top scorer in Saturday's tilt with St. Clair with 12 points. Molly Taylor pulled down 13 rebounds for the Knights against the Lions, while Kate Roth picked up 11 against St. Clair.
The Knights will now look ahead to their Saturday match-up with Fanshawe College (3-1) at 1:00pm in Welland.
