HAWKS, MOUNTAINEERS PLAY FOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GOLD IN NATION'S CAPITAL

OTTAWA - After two highly contested contests on Friday evening at the Jack Doyle Athletic and Recreation Centre, the No. 15 Mohawk Mountaineers and No. 11 Humber Hawks will square off in the OCAA gold medal game on Saturday. This will be a rubber match between the two teams, as they split the regular season series.

The Algonquin Wolves will now face off against the Fanshawe Falcons in the bronze medal game, in what is sure to be another electric atmosphere at the ARC.

GAME RECAPS

No. 15 Mohawk Mountaineers 69 vs. Fanshawe Falcons 60

The first game of the night featured the Mountaineers and Falcons, where the Falcons were looking for their second upset, after beating the Niagara Knights last weekend. The teams went shot for shot until the mid-way point in the first quarter. The Mountaineers were able to give themselves some breathing room thanks to OCAA West First-Team All-Star Kendra Oliver, who established her presence in the paint going 3-of-4 in the quarter to help Mohawk get out to the 20-11 lead.

The Falcons ramped up the defensive intensity in the second quarter and made it difficult for Mohawk to find their rhythm. Fanshawe turned to OCAA West Rookie of the Year Ashlyn Anderson as she went a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor in the quarter, and the Mountaineers saw their lead evaporate with Fanshawe trailing by only four points going into the half.

Fanshawe rode the momentum they gained into the second half with Keren Masebenebi drilling one from beyond the arc to start the third to cut the lead to one. However, the Falcons would go cold from the floor, and the Mountaineers capitalized by going on 7-0 run to go up 43-36. OCAA West First-Team All-Star Maddie Anderson came up big in the quarter for Mohawk, coming up with timely steals and baskets, to push their lead to 11 heading into the fourth quarter.

It looked like Mohawk was going to run away with the game thanks to Angong Jacob going on an individual 8-0 run to kick off the final frame. Fanshawe once again weren't going to go down quietly, and caught fire from the floor. Anderson took control of the boards for the Falcons as she collected seven in the quarter, and she capped off a 13-0 run with a lay-up down low to cut Mohawk's lead to three with three minutes to go. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Mohawk quickly regrouped and extended the lead back to seven thanks to back-to-back baskets from Anderson and Tiffany Williams. Mohawk wouldn't look back after that and will move on to the gold medal game for the first time since 2017 with the 69-60 win.

Players of the Game:
Mohawk - Maddie Anderson: 14 pts, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 6 steals
Fanshawe - Ashlyn Anderson: 18 pts, 19 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists

No. 1 Algonquin Wolves 43 vs. No. 11 Humber Hawks 57

It was a packed house Friday night as Wolves fans filled the Jack Doyle Athletic and Recreation Centre to watch Algonquin take on the Humber Hawks in the second semi-final of the night. The Wolves were looking to keep their undefeated season alive and play for gold on home court, while the Hawks were looking to advance to their third final in four seasons. The thunderous cheers from the home crowd didn't seem to faze the Hawks early on as they quickly got out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a pair of baskets from OCAA Player of the Year Kia Watt. The Wolves would remain scoreless until a deep three from OCAA Second-Team All-Star Sydney Moore got the Wolves on the board. Both teams brought the physicality, and it became clear early on that it was going to be a defensive battle. The teams would trade off several rounds of free throws and the quarter came to an end with the Hawks up 9-7.

The Wolves once again struggled to solve Humber's defence and only managed to score two points in the first five minutes of the quarter. Thankfully for the Wolves, their defence was equally up to the task and held the Hawks to 2-of-15 from the floor in the quarter. After a pair of baskets from Libby Hirst and Cianah Miller, Algonquin tied the game at 13 forcing Humber to take a timeout. After the timeout, the Wolves got their first lead of the game thanks to a 5-0 run courtesy of Meaghan McNamara which sent the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd was quickly silenced however, thanks to a step-back three from Watt. Both teams would go scoreless the remainder of the quarter, and the Wolves went into halftime with an 18-16 lead.

Unlike the first two quarters, the Wolves got on the board early in the third with a quick layup from Mallory Katz. OCAA East Player of the Year Dasia McDonald had a quiet first half, but made her presence known with a transition layup off a rebound to put the Wolves up six. The Wolves lead got to eight before Humber began to take control of the paint, with Marley Bonnick and Watt quickly tying the game up at 26 with a pair of layups each. Sarah Baptie would hit a huge corner three off an offensive rebound to give the Hawks a 34-32 lead heading into the fourth.

McDonald also showed why she was the OCAA East Defensive Player of the Year, as she got a pair of steals, and transition layups to give the lead back to the Wolves. However, Algonquin couldn't find an answer defensively for Marley Bonnick, as she once again delivered back-to-back baskets in the paint. With the lead in hand the Hawks would force the Wolves into several back-breaking turnovers which lead to easy transition buckets, and extended Humber's lead to 44-38. Algonquin was able to cut the lead back down to four, but Marian Martin delivered a dagger three with two minutes to go in the fourth, and the Hawks wouldn't look back from there and took the game 57-43.

Players of the Game:
Algonquin - Dasia McDonald: 9 pts, 5 steals, 4 reb, 3 ast
Humber - Marley Bonnick: 15 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast

Source: Algonquin Wolves

Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/wbb25

Live Webcast: ocaa.live

Friday, February 28
Semi-Finals
S-F #1: Mohawk def. Fanshawe 69-60
S-F #2: Humber def. Algonquin 57-43

Saturday, March 1
Bronze Medal Match
Fanshawe vs. Algonquin - 2:30 p.m.
Winning team presented OCAA Bronze Medal at conclusion of match

Gold Medal Match
Mohawk vs. Humber - 5 p.m.
OCAA Gold and Silver Medals presented at conclusion of match

- OCAA -

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