BARRIE, ON - The Durham Lords women's basketball team defeated the Georgian Grizzlies 70-67 to open the 2022-23 OCAA regular season with a victory.

A large 28-point first quarter to open the game put the Lords ahead by 11 points. Seven players registered points for the visitors in the opening frame. The second quarter was more closely contested, with Durham outscoring the hosts by one point to take a 12-point lead into halftime.

Georgian came out of the locker room strong to begin the second half on the pack of a 15-point quarter for Kory Hook to cut the Grizzlies deficit to five points. The fourth quarter was back and forth and the Grizzlies held Durham to 14 points but were unable to complete the comeback. With the score 70-67, the Grizzlies attempted a 3-point shot to send it to overtime with three seconds remaining but a block by Brianna Morrison (Oshawa, ON) gave the Lords the win.

Morrison was Durham's leader in the season opener, with 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four assists and two blocks. Hannah Oke (Brooklin, ON) finished with nine points and six boards, while Onika Leveridge (Scarborough, ON) had eight points and six rebounds on the score sheet.

The Lords are back on the road on Saturday with a trip to Scarborough for their first meeting of the season against the Centennial Colts. Durham will play their home opener on Tuesday, November 1 against the George Brown Huskies at 6:00 PM.