BARRAGE OF THREE’S, NOFUENTE DOUBLE-DOUBLE LEAD HAWKS TO WIN
A barrage of threes, along with a defense that had Sheridan on their heels all night, led the Humber Hawks Women's Basketball Team to a dominant 85-61 win on Saturday night in front of a raucous home crowd.
The blue and gold set the tone early, as star point guard Ceejay Nofuente began the assault from beyond the arc quickly. Three triples in the opening minutes from Nofuente had the Bruins defense scrambling, and an Aleena Domingo tip-in pushed the score to 11-2 just four minutes in. Sheridan responded to the challenge, as a mini-run of their own that included some nice interior ball movement cut the lead to three and momentarily quieted the crowd. In what would become a recurring theme, the Bruins momentum was halted when Ruth Holland nailed a triple from the top of the arc; at the end of the first quarter, Humber held a 17-12 advantage.
The Hawks defense amped up the pressure to start the second, and soon after Natalie Hagopian hit a three the small forward forced a turnover with great on-ball pressure; her perfect pass to Mary Asare led to a lay-in and pushed Humber's advantage to eleven. Nofuente's vision began to control the game's pace, and a pair of no look dimes in the paint gave Courtney Boyes easy finishes at the rim. The swarming defense continued to make Sheridan guards miserable, and a Shan Wilson steal provided the Hawks another fast break bucket. With time running down in the half, the Hawks capped twenty minutes of great play when Llyandra Keer laid one in with just seconds remaining; at the half, Humber held a commanding 44-26 lead.
The third quarter saw the Hawks extend their dominance to the glass, and a pair of tip in's from Aleena Domingo stretched the margin to twenty. Centre Jillian Semple was cleaning up the boards on both ends of the court, with Bruins second chance opportunities coming few and far between. Humber's fast break continued to extend and tire Sheridan's defense – a gorgeous and-one finish from Melissa Szilagyi off another runout seemed to open the flood gates. Before the quarter ended a pair of threes from Ruth Holland and Shan Wilson extended the blue and gold's lead to 67-38, and had the Athletic Centre abuzz.
The fourth and final quarter saw the three's continue to splash, as Nofuente's fourth and fifth of the night capped an unbelievable showing from beyond the arc. The Hawks would cash in a couple more trey's before the buzzer sounded, finishing the night with ten. The score read 85-61 when the final whistle was blown, with Nofuenete's fifteen point, ten assist double-double leading the way.
With the win, Humber improves to 6-1 on the year and the squad certainly appears to be among Ontario's elite. Next up for the Hawks is a Thursday night match-up with Niagara, where they will be looking for their third consecutive win as they reach the season's midway point.
