CENTENNIAL 52, SENECA 46

In their final regular season contest for both teams, the Seneca Sting dropped a close 52-46 decision against the Centennial Colts tonight at Newnham Gym.

The game would prove inconsequential for the Sting who had already wrapped up the third seed in the OCAA East Division. The Colts win put them in a tie for the final playoff spot in the East.  Centennial must play the waiting game as they need a George Brown loss to advance to a qualifying game this weekend

For the second consecutive home game, it was a chippy affair for the women's basketball team as there were a number of fouls called in the opening quarter. Centennial held the lead as the buzzer sounded to end the low-scoring quarter 11-8. Six Colts players registered at least one point while Lauren Egglestone had six for the Sting. Seneca was hindered at the free throw line, shooting  just 2-of-6.

The Colts opened the game up with an explosive half in the offensive end while holding the Sting to just seven points in the quarter. Tamara James-Francis came alive for the Colts with 12 points in the quarter, including two three-pointers. James-Francis led Centennial with 14 points at the half while Egglestone paced Seneca with eight.

Trailing 29-15 at the half, Seneca made a strong push in the third quarter to close the deficit, outscoring the Colts 14-6 to trail by six heading into the fourth quarter. Sharika Smith had six points along with four each from Melissa Conroy and Caryl Munzara. James-Francis had four of the six Colts points.

The offense was clicking in the exciting fourth quarter which saw the Sting take the lead for the first time all game. Egglestone completed a play inside for two points to give Seneca a 36-35 lead. Moments before, a controversial play happened when referees failed to blow play dead when a Colts player was injured. Seneca scored at the other end to pull within one point before the Egglestone basket. The Sting were unable to hold onto the lead as the Colts came storming back, led by James-Francis who had 10 in the final quarter and 28 for the game.

Sharika Smith finished with 14 for Seneca. Graduating seniors Egglestone and Ashley Nurse had 10 and eight points respectively along with 13 rebounds apiece. Nurse also finished with 12 steals.

James-Francis topped the Colts with 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Kadeja Hughes had 11 rebounds, but turned the ball over 11 times as well.

Prior to the game, Seneca recognized two graduating seniors in Lauren Egglestone and Ashley Nurse. The two combined on the first Sting basket of the game as Nurse lobbed a pass inside to Egglestone, who banked a shot in.

Source: Seneca College