LOYALIST 55, DURHAM 51

BELLEVILLE, Ont. – The Loyalist Lancers women's basketball team managed to hold off a late surge by the Durham Lords Friday night in their OCAA regular season finale.

With the win, Loyalist (8-8) leapfrogs Seneca (8-8) and Durham (8-8) for fourth place in the east region standings, forcing the Lords on the road for their OCAA championship qualifying game. Durham's opponent for the playoff match will be determined on Sunday afternoon when the remaining games of the regular season wrap up.

Durham will be looking to qualify for the OCAA championship in back-to-back years for the first time since 1997.

Trailing 47-36 in the fourth quarter in Belleville, Ont., Durham went on a 7-0 run to close the gap within four.

On the next Lancers possession, Durham did a good job of keeping the ball to the outside but Mikayla Brennan managed to hit a long-range three to put the Lancers back up by seven.

The Lords would once again chip away at the lead, but the Lancers were just too strong down the stretch as they picked up the four-point victory to earn home court advantage in the playoffs.

The third quarter was the difference maker for Loyalist, as they outscored Durham 16-8 to up their lead to nine points.

Lindsay Panchan (Ajax, Ont.) was the lone Lord in double digits scoring as she finished her night with 23 points. Ending the year averaging 25.0 points per game, Panchan becomes the first Lord to lead the OCAA in scoring since Bonnie Slaughter did it in 2004. Panchan also tied for the second most points per game average in OCAA history, trailing only Danielle D'Ettorre of Algoma who averaged 26.0 PPG in 2007.

Brennan led all scorers in the game with 25 points, 18 of which were in the second half.

The Lords finish the year with an 8-8 conference record, reaching at least the .500 mark for the second straight season.

Playoff match-ups will be available on www.durhamlords.com following the conclusion of the OCAA regular season.

Source: Durham College