February 7, 2024, WELLAND
The Niagara College Women's Basketball Team (12-4) welcomed the Sheridan Bruins (0-16) to the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre this Wednesday night defeating the visitors 59-54. Your Knights roll into the playoffs next week and are currently sitting as the third seed in the West, having won 6 of their 7 games in 2024.
Niagara started the game in a dominating fashion going on a 13-4 run to open the first quarter. Your Knights were playing selfless basketball, making the extra pass and continuing to find the open player. The Knights were able to keep their 9 point advantage throughout the rest of the quarter leading 25-16 going into the second. In the second quarter the game flipped on its head with the Bruins shutting down the Knights offense, holding them to only 9 points in the quarter. Through some big plays and strong defensive possessions, the Bruins cut the lead to 3 going into the halftime break.
The second half of the game was a cagey affair with the two teams on opposite sides of the conference not wanting to end their season with a loss. After tying the third quarter 11-11, the Knights were able to seal an important victory for the team finally edging the Bruins in the final frame to take the victory and seal homecourt advantage in the upcoming crossover playoffs game.
Wednesday's game saw Taryn Mitchell dominate the game (fitting seeing as this was her senior night) registering 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 5 blocks. Another player celebrating her senior night, Molly Taylor, also played a major role on the defensive end grabbing 10 rebounds, swatting 5 shots while adding 6 points offensively. Leading the bench unit was first year Destiny Osadebamwen, who contributed 16 points and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes.
Head Coach Chris Rao commented "I'm very proud of our seniors, it's been an incredible career for the 3 of them. It was not our best performance [tonight], we need to be better, but as a whole, I would say this was a successful regular season. We've built and continued to grow throughout the year and year on year. We've set ourselves up for a home playoff game and that was one of our goals. Now we need to settle in and get ready for a playoff push".
The Knights' next game will be their first playoff game of the season which will be a crossover game with the OCAA East Division hosted at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre. The time, date, and opponent is yet to be determined as OCAA basketball standings will be finalized following the completion of regular season play on Sunday, February 11th.
Niagara College offers more than 130 diploma, bachelor degree and advanced level programs; as well as more than 600 credit, vocational and general interest Part-Time Studies courses. Areas of specialization include food and wine science, advanced technology, media, applied health and community safety, supported by unique learning enterprises in food, wine, beer, distilling, horticulture and esthetics. Visit niagaracollege.ca.
