January 20, 2024, WELLAND
The Knights women's basketball team (9-3) jumps into a tie for second place in the west division with a huge at home win versus the Humber Hawks (7-4) on Saturday afternoon at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre. They are now tied with Mohawk and St. Clair who they will play in two of their next three games.
The Knights started off strong scoring the first four points of the game as Humber struggled shooting only 23% from the floor. The Knights were able to maintain the lead for the entirety of the first quarter. The Hawks tried to come out running into the second quarter, but were quickly shut down with a three-point shot by Janee Harrison. The Knights continued to control the floor shooting 55% in the second quarter and taking a commanding 39-23 lead at the half.
The Hawks were not going to go down easily and continued to fight back improving their shooting stats each quarter. The Knights ran into some foul trouble in the second half of the game and had 3 starters foul out of the game. The bench was able to step in and carry the team through the second half of the game with Diana Saoud and Destiny Osadebamwen both coming off the bench playing 19 and 31 minutes respectively and combining for 14 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists.
The Knights began the first quarter with a comfortable 53-39 lead, but the Hawks pulled within 5 points with 38 seconds remaining in the game. Janee Harrison came through big once again with a made layup, free throw, a block, and a defensive rebound in the last 20 seconds to help seal the win. The Knights were also helped by Molly Taylor and Taryn Mitchell who brought leadership and energy to the court. Molly was 7 for 10 from the floor with 14 poiunts, 1 block, 4 steals, 2 assists, and 8 rebounds while Taryn contributed 19 points, 3 blocks, 4 steals, 2 assists, and 8 rebounds.
Head Coach Chris Rao adds "in a big game coming off a short week, I'm really pleased with how keyed in we were defensively to our game plan. We had to overcome a lot of adversity with foul trouble and in spite of that I feel we stepped up and handled it well. It wasn't our best game start to finish, but there was a lot of good to build on".
The Knights are now on a three-game winning streak as they try to carry the momentum forward to their next three games on road. They head back to steel town for a crucial matchup against the 9-3 Mohawk Mountaineers who are coming off a 2-game road trip where they lost to both Lambton and St. Clair.
