Friday, January 12th saw the Niagara Knights women's basketball program open 2018 in the win column after defeating the UTM Eagles 84-57. The victory puts the Knights at 7-4 on the season, good enough for 4th place in the OCAA west division.
The beginning of the first quarter saw each program fly out of the gate, trading buckets back and forth. The Knights began to find their rhythm later in the first, finishing the quarter up 28-18 thanks to a 10 point contribution from their 5th year guard Courtney Kilyk (Fonthill, Ont.). Niagara would continue to dominate the Eagles winning the second quarter 19-12, finishing the second half leading 47-30.
The Knights continued their dominance in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 37-27 sealing a hard fought Knights' victory.
"It was nice to come out with a victory after a long midseason break" said Knights' head coach Mike Beccaria. "I thought we executed some things really well tonight and I am excited to continue to work with this group heading into the second half of the season."
Leading the Knights offensively was 5th year guard Courtney Kilyk, who finished with a team high 12 points while contributing 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Other notable Knights' performances came from 4th year guard Mary Ingribelli (St. Catharines, Ont.) and 2nd year forward Tianna Stys (St. Catharines, Ont.), contributing 11 points and 10 points respectively.
The Knights will look for their second straight victory when they travel to Hamilton, Ontario Thursday, January 18th to face off against the Mohawk Mountaineers.