MOHAWK 86, REDEEMER 69

HAMILTON, Ont. - The Mohawk women's basketball team opened the Ontario Colleges Athletic Assocation regular season with a 86-69 triumph over the Redeemer Royals at the new David Braley Athletic and Recreation Centre Wednesday (Oct. 23). But the 17 point win wasn't always in the cards.

The Mountaineers and Royals played even in the first quarter, as each scored 16 points. The home team pulled ahead 33-23 at the break, but Redeemer came out of the gate smoking in the second half with a rally which included three consecutive three-pointers, without reply and suddenly were down only 37-35. But Mohawk regrouped to lead 59-47 at three quarter time and then managed to maintain a healthy margin in the final quarter.

Stef Hrymak led the Mountaineer attack with 21 points and eight rebounds. Porscha Hewitt had 19 points while Natalie Fisher and Katelyn Arbour chipped in with 11 each. Arbour also led all rebounders with 10.

For Redeemer, Lindsay Moffat had 28 points and seven rebounds. Aycha Hamaoui scored 20 points.

Mohawk head coach Kevin Duffy said despite the win, his team played very sloppy basketball." "I give alot of credit to (Redeemer)," said Duffy. "They played very well, they executed, they moved the ball well on offence and they hit the open shots."

The coach felt his team had some opening night jitters and were a little tentative on the court. They also got into early foul trouble.

"We just made alot of mental mistakes. There were alot of breakdowns, both offensively and defensively and Redeemer capitalized," said Duffy.

The coach noted it wasn't all negative and they like to emphasize the positive, such as the fact they scored more than 80 points. But the team will look at the video and deal with the defensive breakdowns. "We'll piece it back together and be ready for the next game," said Duffy.

Source: Mohawk College