The Olds College Broncos women's basketball team lost at the buzzer on Saturday night on the road at SAIT with first place in the ACAC South Division on the line. SAIT's all-star guard Alicia Tan hit a tough off-balance three-point shot with a second left to give the Trojans a 52-50 win in the final league game for both teams.
The Broncos had come back from a halftime deficit of five, 28-23, with some strong pressure defence and outside shooting from their guards.
Olds was within one, 39-38, after three quarters and went on a strong 12-3 run to take an eight-point lead with a couple of minutes left. Trojan guard Alexa Tan then scored seven consecutive points by herself. A late game Bronco charge gave SAIT the ball with nine seconds left, down one.
SAIT player of the game Alicia Tan, Alexa's older sister, brought the ball up and hit the three-pointer right at the buzzer to win the game.
Michaela Allen-Guillon picked up player of the game honours and led Olds with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Alice Fay-Pitts added 14 for the Broncos.
Alicia Tan, a fifth-year senior playing her last regular season home game, led all scorers with 21 points and added 11 rebounds. Martina Allen added 10 for SAIT.
On Friday, Olds College centre Brittney Thibeaux led the Broncos to a 77-69 win at home over SAIT with 38 points and 15 rebounds.
With the strong post presence of Thibeaux and the three-point shooting of Allen-Guillon, the Broncos went up 23-11 after one quarter and managed to hold off SAIT for the eight-point win at the Ralph Klein Centre.
At the Friday game, Thibeaux hit the ACAC single season record for made field goals with 200. (A field goal is any shot other than a free throw). She ended up with 206 for the season.
Allen-Guillon ended up with 16 points. Kristina Bajovic led the Broncos with eight assists and added eight points.
Olds College ends the regular season in second place in the South Division with a 15-6 record for 30 points, four behind first place SAIT. Both teams will compete at provincials this weekend, March 1-3, at SAIT.
The Broncos open up the playoffs on Thursday against Lakeland College from Lloydminster, third seed in the North Division. The Lakeland Rustlers ended up with a 16-8 record in their league.
Thibeaux led all ACAC scorers with 25.3 points per game shooting at a 62 per cent clip, also first in the ACAC. She also averaged 12.4 rebounds per game, second in the ACAC.
Thibeaux joined the Broncos after two years at North Dakota College of Science where she was a National Junior College All-American.
MEN'S TEAM SPLITS WITH TOP SEEDED SAIT
Despite splitting weekend games with SAIT, the South Division's first place team, the Olds College Broncos men's basketball team fell one spot short of a playoff spot. The Broncos ended up in fifth place in the ACAC South Division with an 11-win, 10-loss record.
On Saturday, the Olds College Broncos men's team lost at SAIT 82-70 despite 22 points and seven rebounds from Samuel Willis III. The Broncos started strong and pulled out by eight, 16-8, early in the first quarter.
The Trojans then took over and pushed to a 49-36 lead at halftime. Olds managed to cut the SAIT lead to as close as five in the fourth quarter but were unable to get any closer, falling by 12.
Murphy Beya topped all SAIT scorers with 22 points in the Trojan win, while Charlie Conner added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Linden Jackson added 11 points for Olds, while Tyler Knopp and Paolo De Soto-Parente scored 10 each.
On Friday at home, the Broncos overcame a 20-point deficit to beat the Trojans 96-88, led by a triple-double (24 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds) from Willis. De Soto-Parente added 22 points for Olds, while Linden Jackson scored 15 points and Dyson Surmik hit for 11 points and added eight rebounds.
Nicholas Molina led SAIT with 18 points, while Julian Apakoh and Beya each added 15.
