ALGONQUIN 51, LOYALIST 34

ETOBICOKE, Ont. – First round action at the belairdirect OCAA Women's Basketball Championship continued at the Humber Athletic Centre this afternoon with the Algonquin Thunder (18-0, first in East) taking on the Loyalist Lancers (10-8, fifth in East).

Both teams had previously met twice in the regular season, with Algonquin taking both contests by scores of 60-41 and 77-48 respectively.

Algonquin has yet to lose a game in OCAA play since Nov. 5, 2011, an incredible streak of 36 games. However, the Lancers do hold an exhibition victory over Algonquin earlier this season.

Both teams would show jitters in the first quarter, with neither team making a basket until the 6:08 mark. Loyalist showed some serious grit though, with forward Samantha Goff ripping two steals right out of the Thunder player's hands under the basket. It would not be enough to hold off the Thunder from taking a 7-2 lead midway through the quarter.

After a two huge blocks by forward Stacey Poapst, the Thunder began to find their offensive touch and took an 11-6 lead into the second quarter.

The Thunder started the second on an 8-0 run before Loyalist guard Jenni Thompson hit a three to bring the Lancers back within eight points. The Thunder would respond, however, with another 6-0 run to make it 25-11 and force a Lancers timeout with under three minutes remaining in the second quarter. Algonquin would take a 31-13 lead into the half.

Sandre Bascoe led all scorers at the half with 13 points along with seven rebounds.

Goff recorded four points, four rebounds, and one assist for the Lancers at the half.

The Thunder would start to settle down and play their game in the second half, creating few chances for the Lancers to make runs and controlling the pace of the game.

Despite the Lancers best efforts on the glass courtesy of their back court, which matched the Thunder's rebounding through the third quarter, they could not generate enough second chance opportunities into baskets and continued to trail by as much as 20 throughout the rest of the game.

Algonquin led 44-25 by the end of the third and took the game by a final score of 51-34.

Player of the Game honours for Algonquin went to Abeer Farhat with seven points, six rebounds and four assists.

Player of the Game honours for Loyalist went to Goff with four points, six rebounds, and two assists.

"We came out flat in the first quarter, but we knew our defensive pressure would wear them down from that point on and try to just push the ball and play our game. Luckily it worked out for us," described Farhat. As far as improvement goes, Farhat believed "the offensive game is where we need to improve. Our defensive effort was pretty strong today so all we really need to do now is hit those easy open shots when we get them."

Algonquin assistant coach Laura Bond described the team in the first half as "in overdrive, so we just sat them down at halftime, got them to breath, and they started to play their game towards the end."

With the win, Algonquin will face Algoma tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.

With the loss, Loyalist will face Seneca in the bronze quarter-final tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Source: Humber College