MEADOWS' CAREER-HIGH LIFTS No. 12 HUMBER PAST ST. CLAIR, 84-66

By: Ronny Musikitele
Humber Athletics Sports Information

WINDSOR, Ont -- No. 12 Humber Hawks women's basketball (9-1, 2nd West) began the second half of the season just as they hoped with a dominating victory against the St. Clair Saints, (6-4, 4th West) 84-66.

Laura Meadows was the catalyst for the Hawks offence, who finished the game with a career-high 23 points and seven rebounds. Miea Cambell-Johnson recorded her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Jahnae Gyles also added 18 points in the blowout.

The Saints have been an offensive threat all season long; currently the second highest scoring offence in the conference averaging 75.4 points. In their last outing against the Hawks, they put up 83 points. The defence was a big area of focus for Humber, and they surely delivered.

St Clair began the game on fire, converting on their first four shots. It seemed as though they were set for another big offence night as they took an early 19-15 lead at the end of the first frame. But the Hawks had a response, and everything changed in the second quarter.

Jana Kucera, who finished with a game-high 26 points, kept her team in the game when the Hawks began their push. Mid-way through the second quarter, Laura Meadows took a hard fall and appeared to have hurt herself. She returned to the game shortly after, with a vengeance. The dynamic-duo of Meadows and Campbell-Johnson in the paint made the Hawks unguardable. The duo went into halftime with double-digits in points and led the Hawks to a 26-point quarter.

Leticia Lopez concluded the first half with back-to-back triples, giving Humber a 41-37 edge at halftime.

The Hawks began the third quarter with a 17-5 run. Their feisty defence began to take over as they held to Saints to eight points in the third quarter. The blowout transpired after the run, with Meadows and Campbell-Johnson leading the way on offence. The Saints made a little run at the end, but the Hawks had an answer. Humber's starting five carried the load tonight, getting a season-low four points from the bench.

"It feels good, but I'm not worried about [having a big game]," said senior forward Laura Meadows. "It's the win that's really important. It's a good way to start the second semester, and it's only up from here. We had a tough time in Montreal and over this week, [Coach] Ajay stressed a lot about the little things we need to do, and we were able to do that today."

"It works well; we trust each other," added Meadows when asked about her dominance with Miea Campbell-Johnson. "When one can't get that open shot, we look for the other. Just getting in the post has been a huge stress for Ajay, so rather we have it or not, we could kick it to our guards or the high post." 

What's Next?
No. 12 Humber returns to the North Campus Gym to conclude its regular season series with UTM (4-7, 8th West). Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Hawks Sports Network