OSHAWA, ON - The Durham College women's basketball team kicked off the 2023-24 OCAA season at home on Friday evening, falling 80-71 to the St. Lawrence Surge in overtime.

Emma Bergen (La Crete, AB) scored the first bucket of the season for the Lords, making a layup to go up 2-0 just short of two minutes into the game. 

Despite the slow start offensively, the Lords scored 15 points in 4:11 late in the first quarter to cap off a 25-point opening frame. This would ultimately be Durham's most offensively productive quarter of the game, outscoring the Surge 25-13.

10 fouls taken by the Lords in the second quarter turned the game on its side, allowing St. Lawrence to go 11-for-14 from the free throw line to outscore Durham 27-15 in the second quarter and send the game into halftime tied at 40.

The game saw two much more evenly contested quarters in the second half as things settled down, eventually forcing overtime with a 69-69 score after 40 minutes of regulation.

St. Lawrence went on an 8-0 run to begin overtime, with Durham's first basket of the extra frame coming from Paige Matosas-Adderley (Scarborough, ON) just over three minutes into the five minute overtime period. That would be their only points in overtime, while three more free throws for the Surge gave them the nine-point win.

Bergen led the way for the Lords while posting a double-double with 25 points and 17 rebounds. She also added five assists, two steals and a pair of blocks.

Onika Leveridge (Scarborough, ON) also had a double-double on the evening with 11 points and 18 rebounds, adding five steals and two blocks. Matosas-Adderley was second on the team in points with 20.

Collectively, the Lords finished with a 39.4% field goal percentage and 51 total rebounds. Durham saw more than half of their total points, 46 to be exact, come in the paint.

The Lords go on the road for their next two games, beginning with a trip to North York to face the Seneca Sting at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, November 1.

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