It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win.
On Saturday afternoon inside the Welland Campus Athletic Centre, the Lambton Lions women’s basketball team extended their winning streak to four games with a 50-44 win over the Niagara College Knights.
With the win, the Lions completed the regular season sweep of the Knights.
After a convincing 89-43 win over Niagara back in their season opener on October 18th, Saturday’s contest was much closer. With just seven players dressed due to various reasons, the Lions were shorthanded and had to adjust accordingly.
Without the services of Cassidy Crowe (personal), Ashleigh Pettit (concussion), and Deb Mboko (knee), the Lions came out of the gates strong in the first quarter. Lambton outscored Niagara by a 22-9 margin, putting the momentum at their backs early on.
First year guard Taya Spears put up 10 of her career-high 20 points in the first frame to set the tone for the visitors.
As quick as the Lions raced out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter, the Knights found their rhythm on both ends of the floor in the second quarter to trim the deficit to just three points at halftime. Mackenzie Schroeder scored all five of her point in the second quarter, and the Knights outscored the Lions by an 18-8 margin in the frame.
The second half was a low scoring affair on both sides. Niagara managed to get to within two points early in the third quarter, but that was as close as they would get down the stretch. Lambton outscored the Knights by a 20-17 margin over the final 20 minutes, edging Niagara for their fourth consecutive win, 50-44.
Spears played all 40 minutes for the Lions on the afternoon, shooting 9-of-19 from the field to set a new career-high with 20 points. Spears now has double-digit points in back-to-back games. Morgan Wagg added 12 points and four rebounds in the win. Most of Wagg’s damage came from beyond the arc, as she finished the day shooting 3-of-7 from three-point range.
Terin Hultink led the Knights with 13 points and 16 rebounds in a losing effort. Hultink was one of three Niagara played to record double-digit rebounds, and Niagara held a 52-32 advantage on the glass.
The win pushed Lambton’s record to 9-4 on the year, securing at least a .500 finish this season.
Looking ahead at the remaining five games for the Lions, the road to the playoffs gets considerably tougher. Their last five games of the regular season are against teams all jockeying for position in the West Division standings, and three of the games come against teams currently ahead of Lambton in the standings.
Lambton returns home to take on the Fanshawe Falcons on Wednesday, January 29th in the annual Bell Let’s Talk game. Fans are encouraged to come early to sign the Bell Let’s Talk banner outside of the Athletics & Fitness Complex. After the game, fans are invited to meet the 2019-20 edition of the Women’s Basketball team outside of the gymnasium for photos and autographs.
The opening tip is set for 6 p.m.