The Niagara College Women's Basketball program took down the Lambton Lions 69-63 in Friday night action at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre.

Leading the charge for the Knights were first year guard Mary Ingribelli (St. Catharines, ON) who posted a double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds) and third year forward Kaitlyn McPherson, who put up 26 points to go along with nine rebounds.

The win moves the Knights into sole possession of fifth place in the competitive OCAA West Division.

After the game, Knights head coach Mike Beccaria stated that"tonight was a total team effort", as the team was without two of its statistical and emotional leaders in Tara Giallanardo (Fonthill, ON) and team captain Shelby Johnston (Welland, ON).

Beccaria continued "a win and a performance like that says a lot about our team, tonight was a total team effort. Mary was awesome, just awesome. Kaitlyn had a big night, and Alyssa (McCabe) distributed the ball well."

Adding to the excitement of the evening was the honouring of 24 student-athlete graduates with a half-time ceremony as part of the first annual 'Knights Grad Night' hosted by the Department of Athletics and Recreation.

The event saw graduates of the Niagara College fall intercollegiate sport programs presented with a personalized gift recognizing their academic performance.

Up next for the Knights is a Sunday, February 2nd game versus the St. Clair Saints at the Welland Campus Athletic Centre. The matchup will see two of the strongest teams in the OCAA West vie for the potential to host an playoff crossover game. Tip-off is set 1:00pm.