The Niagara Knights women's basketball program pulled out a last second 54-52 victory over the Lambton Lions in the OCAA consolation semi-final on Friday afternoon. The Knights will now play the St. Clair Saints on Saturday in the OCAA consolation final.
Alyssa McCabe (Niagara Falls) was the hero for the Knights, scoring a layup with 7 seconds on the clock to break a 52-52 tie and put Niagara ahead. McCabe's initial shot attempt was blocked by a Lions defender, but a fortunate bounce saw the ball land back in her hands. She went up and completed the second effort layup for the final two of her six points in the contest. The Lions would have time for one last shot attempt, but a miss and rebound by Kaitlyn McPherson (Welland) sent the Knights to the consolation final with a 54-52 victory.
McPherson led the way for the Knights offensively with 14 points and 11 rebounds to complete a double-double. For the second straight day the sister act completed the dual double-double, as sister Courtney McPherson (Welland) added 13 points and 15 rebounds. Brooke-Lyn Murdoch (Welland) took home player of the game honours for the Knights with 10 assists and 6 steals in the contest. Murdoch was an athletic juggernaut on the court, making plays from start to finish.
For the Lions, Yasmine Taylor was presented with player of the game honours after the game. Taylor recorded 14 points and eight rebounds in the contest. Melissa Ellis had another stellar game for the Lions. Yesterday's player of the game recorded a double-double of her own with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the game.
Head coach Mike Beccaria knew it would be difficult to rebound from a disappointing loss yesterday evening, but the game today was about more than just the victory. Beccaria said the message before the game was simple, "Play for yourself, play for the graduating players, and play for the program." The team responded and gave the Knights graduating players one more opportunity to play in front of their home crowd.
Prior to the game, the Knights presented 5th year seniors Kaitlyn McPherson and Miranda Ross (St. Catharines) with commemorative basketballs. McPherson is the Knights second all-time leading scorer with 821 points, and second all-time in field goals made with 345. Ross is the Knights all-time leader in 3 pointers made with 72, blocks with 114 and rebounds with 589.
The Lions season draws to a close with the loss. Niagara will move on to tomorrow's consolation final against the St. Clair Saints tomorrow at 2:00pm. The game will be broadcast live at goknights.ca/watchlive.
