Sunday, February 26th saw the Niagara College women's basketball program advance to the 2017 OCAA Championship with an emphatic 86-72 victory over the visiting Centennial Colts. The Knights will now face the East Division top-seeded St. Lawrence Vikings (16-1) at 1:00pm on Thursday, March 2nd in the opening game of the Championship tournament.
The Knights controlled the game from the opening tip-off flaunting end of quarter leads of nine, 14, and 18 points. In the fourth quarter the Knights stretched their lead to as many as 21 before riding the depth of their roster to the victory.
St. Catharines native Mary Ingribelli was outstanding for the Knights, recording a career high 29pts on a red hot 10 of 14 shooting. The former Governor Simcoe Redcoat also added five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
"Mary was on fire for us today" said Niagara College women's basketball head coach Mike Beccaria. "What a game. Her across the board effort was outstanding. Just a monster performance."
Beccaria was also quick to praise the Knights veteran guards in Alyssa McCabe and Brooke-Lyn Murdoch. "I thought Brooke-Lyn played very well defensively, and Alyssa gave us a real veteran and sound game from the point."
McCabe (Niagara Falls) finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Murdoch (Welland) turned in 12 points and a game high four steals.
"Moving forward we are going to have to ensure our transition defence is strong" continued Beccaria. "We definitely need to rebound better as second chance points are extremely important this time of year."
The 2017 OCAA Women's Basketball Championship is being hosted from March 2-4 by the Seneca Sting in Toronto. For all information regarding the event please visit the Championship website at http://ocaa.com/championships/wbkl/2016-17/index
