(London, Ontario) – The No. 4 CCAA ranked Fanshawe Women's Basketball team (20-1, 2nd in West) advanced to the OCAA championship game with an exciting 83-73 win over a talented Algonquin Thunder (17-2, 1st in East) squad.
The Falcons came out flying to start the game, as fifth-year guard Mikhaila Wright (London, ON) had 10 points in the first four minutes to give Fanshawe a 14-4 lead. Algonquin was able to regroup but a layup from local forward Alison Cotton continued the strong offense for the Birds. The red and white held a 25-18 lead after the first quarter.
Wright continued her dominant performance in the second frame, using her speed to beat her defender as well as hitting a pair of triples. At the half, Wright had an incredible 24 points on 10/14 shooting from the field. Second-year guard Jessica Jordan (Chatham, ON) also hit a pair of jump shots for Fanshawe to give them a 44-36 half-time lead.
The Thunder showed why they were East Division Champions in the third quarter when they went on an 18-5 run to open the frame to take the lead. However, the Falcons were resilient, and Algonquin could not find an answer for Wright. She added eight third quarter points to tie the game at 59 going into the final quarter.
With the game tied at 65 and just over 4 minutes left, OCAA Player of the Year Chuot Angou (London, ON) stepped up and was clutch down the stretch. She scored 12 straight Fanshawe points, including back-to-back deep three pointers to put the Birds up, 77-68. With the Thunder being forced to foul, two huge offensive rebounds by Natalie Warren (London, ON) sealed the deal as the Falcons finished on an 18-8 run to win the game 83-73. Fanshawe shot an impressive 47% from the field and 45% from long range. Wright set a new Fanshawe Women's Basketball playoff record for most points in a game with 36, while Angou added 24. Wright was named the player of the game, going an incredible 64% from the field and 50% from the three.
In a rematch of last season's final, the Falcons will face host St. Clair (16-4, 3rd in East) in the OCAA gold medal game on Sunday at 3:30pm. The game can be viewed live on fanshawefalcons.ca/watchlive.