Trojans fall to Lightning

CALGARY, ALTA., (Jan. 18, 2020) - The struggles continue for the SAIT Trojans women's basketball team.

For the second straight night, the Trojans were beaten by the St. Mary's University Lightning - Saturday's decision coming via a 76-52 score in Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) action played at SAIT's Campus Centre.

"In the fourth quarter, all of a sudden we start making shots, but the three quarter before then we had a hard time making anything from four feet in," said Trojans head coach Bir Parmar. "We need to be able to finish around the basket, and we did it the final 10 minutes, but that's not enough."

SAIT falls to 3-9 on the season. St. Mary's jumps to 8-5.

The Trojans got out to a slow start, as the Lightning took a 15-10 lead into the second quarter.

In that second quarter, St. Mary's shot an impressive 62 per cent from the field to take a 35-21 lead into halftime.

After the break, SAIT's guests put things out of reach, as they outscored the Trojans 23-11 in the third quarter to take a commanding 58-33 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.

Only then did SAIT start to make baskets, as they shot 63 per cent from the field in the final quarter to outscore St. Mary's 20-18.

Rachel Osczevski (2nd year, Rocky Mountain House, Alta., Nutrition for Healthy Lifestyles) had a big game for the Trojans, scoring a team-high 16 points to go along with 19 rebounds.

Former Trojan Hannah Helton scorched SAIT for 28 points and seven rebounds.

The Trojans return to action next weekend with just one game against the powerhouse Olds College Broncos at home on Friday, Jan, 24 at 6pm. Parmar hopes the fourth quarter output his team put together Saturday carries itself over.

"We did some stuff where we didn't turnover the ball against pressure," said Parmar. We're going to see pressure next week against a really good team, so we need to take care of the ball and finish around the basket if we want to be successful."