SARNIA, Ont. – The Lions are off to Provincials.
For just the second time in program history, the Lambton Lions women’s basketball team is off to the OCAA Women’s Basketball Provincial Championship.
On Saturday afternoon inside the Lambton College Athletics & Fitness Complex, the Lions picked up a convincing 96-67 win over the visiting Centennial Colts in their OCAA Crossover Game to earn their spot at Provincials.
Lambton posted a record of 11-7 in the regular season, good enough for fourth-place in the West Division standings. Their fourth-place finish secured them a home game against the Colts, who finished fifth in the East Division with a 6-10 record in the regular season.
Saturday marked the second meeting between the two teams this season, with the first coming in the pre-season. The Colts took part in the Can-Am Classic, hosted by the Lions, prior to the regular season. Lambton picked up the 73-52 win over Centennial in the tournament.
The Colts came out of the gates strong in the first quarter, putting up points in bunches. The Lions did their best to keep pace with the visitors, and they managed to keep Centennial within striking distance. In the final minute, buckets from Cassidy Crowe and Ashleigh Pettit helped the Lions take a three-point lead into the second frame.
Once they had the lead, the Lions never let it go the rest of the way.
Lambton built on their lead as the first half wound down. A rejection from Aku Anyoun on the defensive end in the closing minute helped stake the Lions to a double-digit lead at the break. The Lions led 46-36 after the first half, and little did fans know it at the time, but they were just getting started.
Out of the break, Lambton opened the third quarter on a 12-0 run to push their lead to 22 points less than three minutes into the frame, prompting a timeout from the Colts to try and regain their composure. While the visitors managed to score four quick points to stop Lambton’s run, it was only for a moment before the Lions found their rhythm once more.
The Lions outscored the Colts by a 29-12 margin to take a 75-48 lead after three quarters.
From then on out, the Lions’ lead was never threatened in the fourth quarter. All eight players who dressed for the Lions saw the floor down the stretch, gaining valuable minutes ahead of the 2020 OCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, hosted by St. Clair College.
Crowe led all scorers on the afternoon with 29 points on 12-of-24 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range. Breanna Pretty continued her strong first season in the OCAA, finishing the day with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
As a team, the Lions shot 43.5% from the field in the win.
Now, the Lions turn their attention to the 2020 OCAA Women’s Basketball Championship quarterfinals. Lambton will face the Algonquin Thunder, the top team from the East Division, in their tournament opener.
Lambton’s game is slated for 1 p.m. on Friday, March 6th at St. Clair College.