A hard-fought 84-80 win earned the Okanagan Lakers women’s basketball team a bronze medal in the B.C. Colleges’ Athletics Association’s (BCCAA) provincial championships Saturday, hosted by Malaspina University College in Nanaimo.
The Lakers were sharp in the bronze medal match against the Capilano Blues (North Vancouver), after losing 59-47 to the Langara Falcons (Vancouver) in their first game of the tournament Friday. The Falcons went on to defeat University College of Fraser Valley (Abbotsford) 55-53 in the gold-medal match.
“We have seen some great performances from the Lakers this season,” says Rob Johnson, Director of Athletics at UBC Okanagan. “Their hard work has really paid off – the 14-4 record was good for second in BC after league play and an 8th-place ranking nationally.
“I know their hopes were for gold and a trip to nationals but several unfortunate late season injuries to starters, (Kim Whelpton – knee, Katie Woodman – ankle, Melaina Dolcetti – ankle) makes bringing home bronze, in a very competitive group of B.C teams, a feat they can be proud of. It says a lot about the character and depth of this team and about the quality of coaching provided by Heather and Marc Semeniuk. This has been a team effort all season.”
Claiming individual honours, first-year forward Melaina Dolcetti was cited as player of the game against Capilano and Sarah Knipe, a third-year Laker forward hailing from Salmon Arm Secondary, earned player of the game recognition in the preliminary match against Langara and was selected to the tournament All-Star team.
The BCCAA also recently announced its Provincial All-Stars, which included two Lakers: 3rd-year forward Sarah Knipe, and 4th-year forward Andre DeLong (Stanley Humphries Secondary, Castlegar). Sarah Knipe was also one of two student-athletes from British Columbia named to the Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) Women’s Basketball All-Canadian team.
The Okanagan Lakers include student athletes from both Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan.
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