ANCASTER, ON: The Niagara Knights women's basketball team (2-11) took the short trip along the QEW to visit the Redeemer Royals (3-10) on Wednesday evening.  This was an important game as both teams jockey for playoff spots.  The Knights led for most of the evening but could not hold on and ended up dropping the game, 76-71. 

The Royals tied this one up many times, but never actually held the lead for more than one possession until midway through the 4th quarter when they took the lead and never looked back.  Injuries plagued the Knights in this game as they only had 3 reserves healthy enough coming off the bench and lost one of their starters early in the 4th quarter.  When the Royals finally took the lead partway through the 4th quarter, the Knights just did not have enough gas left in the tank to fight off the comeback. 

The Knights were yet again led by 2nd year guard Lyric Shallow who scored an astonishing 29 points, supplemented by 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal.  5th year guard Aisja Strachan had one of her better games, tallying 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.  1st year center Lilly Brown started her first game of the season and was 1 basket short of a double-double.  She contributed 8 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block.  The other two starters for the Knights, Emma Vendittelli and Alyah Pereira combined for 16 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals in this back-and-forth game. 

The Knights will have the week to rest and hopefully get healthy before they host the Sheridan Bruins for this year's senior night.  Tipoff is scheduled for 6pm on Wednesday, February 4th and will immediately follow a special ceremony celebrating our graduating student-athletes on the women's basketball team.  If you cannot join us in person, all OCAA basketball action can be watched live at ocaalive.com. 

For more information on the Knights' teams, please visit us at www.goknights.ca