February 22, 2025
WELLAND, ON: The Niagara Knights women's basketball team hosted a quarter final
playoff game at the Simplii Financial Athletic Centre on Saturday afternoon. They
hosted the 5 th seeded Fanshawe Falcons with the winner advancing to the final four
OCAA Championship and fell in a heartbreaking 56-53 loss.
The Knights came out of the gates flat and missed a few layups that would typically fall
for them as they struggled offensively through the first half of this game. The Knights
looked like they were starting to find their groove as they took the lead towards the end
of the first quarter. The Falcons came out into the second quarter with some fire behind
their game and although the Knights did their best to hold off the firing squad, the
Falcons ended the 2 nd quarter on a 9 to 1 run and the Knights found themselves trailing
by 7 points at the half.
The second half of this game was a bit of a different story for the Knights as they were
more successful offensively, however the Falcons were able to match the same number
of points as the Knights in the 3 rd quarter, and so the Knights were still trailing by 7
heading into the final frame. The Falcons opened the scoring in the 4 th quarter and
looked like they were going to keep control of this ball game, but the Knights had other
plans. They were able to claw their way back, scoring 12 unanswered points late in the
4 th quarter to get within 2 points with 2 minutes left in the game. Fanshawe made a
layup with just less than 2 minutes left in the game and despite many efforts, the
Knights could not come up with their own combination of shots to pull off this final
second win.
The Knights struggled slightly with injuries and illness in this game and were working
with a reduced lineup. Despite the struggles of some of her teammates, 4 th year guard
Taryn Mitchell did not miss a beat, scoring a season-high 22 points and adding 9
rebounds and 6 steals for good measure. Fellow 4 th year guard Jamira Rousseau also
had a strong showing, scoring 6 points and adding 5 steals and 1 block of her own. The
Knights will take some time to rest and recover from the season before the coaches
begin their recruiting and off-season training programs.
For more information on the Knights teams, please visit us at www.goknights.ca.