The 2018-19 OCAA women's basketball awards banquet was held on Wednesday night in Kingston as the OCAA Championship is set to begin at St. Lawrence College on Thursday afternoon. At the awards banquet, one of the Niagara Knights women's basketball players was honoured for her regular season accomplishments.
Bridget Atkinson (Welland) was named a West Division 1st Team All-Star and the OCAA Defensive Player of the Year for the 2018-19 season. Atkinson is the first Niagara College women's basketball player to ever receive the OCAA Defensive Player of the Year award.
Atkinson, who joined the program this season after previously competing in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) for the Guelph Gryphons and Brock Badgers was nothing short of spectacular game in and game out for the Knights, helping them secure an 11-9 regular season record, a playoff win over George Brown and a berth into the OCAA Championship.
Over the course of her 19 games played, the Knights point guard averaged 19.7 points per game (2nd OCAA), 7.8 rebounds per game (19th OCAA) and 4.3 assists per game (7th OCAA). Perhaps her most impressive stat, however, and the reason she was named defensive player of the year was her 4.7 steals per game which by far led the OCAA.
Atkinson and the Niagara Knights women's basketball team will now begin their quest to the OCAA Championship as they take on the Sheridan Bruins in the first game of the tournament on Thursday at 8pm.
