Falcons Advance to National Semis

(London, ON) - The Falcons women's basketball team matched up against the Douglas College Royals of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association's (CCAA) PAC-WEST Conference in the quarter-final of the CCAA National Championship tournament. Despite competing in nationals, the Royals finished second in their conference to the VIU Mariners with the PAC-WEST holding the extra tournament spot.

It was a tightly contested battle in the first half. Two teams with little knowledge of each others play, it was a feeling out process early for both sides. While the Falcons offence was slow, it was their patented defence that carried them through the first quarter, collecting six steals and a block to help them close out the initial frame up 15-14.

The game remained rather low scoring in the second quarter, which was fine by the Falcons as they have come accustomed to grind it out, low-scoring affairs throughout their playoff journey. Leading Fanshawe scorers in the first half was Ashlyn Anderson (Latchford, ON) with nine points and Edith Eseme (Milton, ON) close behind with seven. The Falcons entered halftime up a slim 31-27.

The Falcons came out firing in the second half as key defensive stops sparked a 13-5 run to begin the third quarter. Myra Ciccarelli (Hamilton, ON) started to heat up in the third, knocking down a three and scoring six points in the quarter to help Fanshawe secure a nine point leading heading into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter OCAA Championship MVP, Layla MacKenzie (Camlachie, ON) did her thing, knocking down back-to-back three's and scoring eight of her 16 points in the frame. Her offensive spark was exactly what the Falcons needed to hold off a surging Douglas squad that began to find their stroke from beyond the arc. Fanshawe closed out the game 67-62 to advance to the national semi-final. Anderson was named the Falcons player of the game for her 12 points, 19 rebounds, six blocks, three assists and three steals performance.

The Falcons will now once again be tasked with defeating a host school on their home floor in the semi-finals as they will take on the Dawson College Blues tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. The Blues knocked off the number one nationally ranked TKU Eagles in their quarter-final game just prior to tip-off of the Falcons contest.

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