In a well fought battle between cross-town rivals, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s basketball team came out on top, defeating the York Lions 74-67 on Saturday night (Jan. 24) at the Athletic Centre Sports Gym.

Blues player of the game Nicki Schutz (Toronto) continued to have the hot hand, knocking down 23 points, hauling in 17 rebounds, making three blocks and forcing three steals.

With the win, the Varsity Blues remain in first place in the OUA East and have now won nine of the last ten games and are still undefeated at home in 2009.

Despite a slow start for both teams through the first two quarters, Varsity Blues found themselves up by three points at the end of the first half, helped in large part to the Lions’ 1-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc and 0-4 shooting from the free-throw line.

The Blues came out very aggressive in the third quarter and went on a 6-0 run in the first minute and half, building a 10-point cushion in the early stages.

At the midway point of the third, fourth-year guard Alaine Hutton (Hamilton, Ont.) fed a beautiful bounce pass to Schutz on a fast break and then nailed three of her 14 second-half points to extend the Blues lead to 44-29.

With the Blues up 19, the Lions found themselves in a huge hole but weren’t ready to give up. Led by their gritty all-star Laura McCallum’s (Paris, Ont.) game-high 24 points, York’s smothering full-court press led to Toronto turnovers and an 8-2 run to close the gap ever-so-slightly.

Hutton would again push the Blues early in the fourth, stealing an errant pass, scoring four quick points and grabbing two rebounds. However, York kept pressing and got to within five, 65-60, with just over three minutes remaining.

Blues forward Tara Kinnear had a huge final two minutes of action, nailing three big buckets, including a nice pick-and-role with Hutton and a put back with 40 seconds left to help seal a critical 74-67 win.

Schutz had a team-high 23 points and 17 boards, Hutton added 18 points and four steals, while Kinnear dropped 16 and grabbed seven rebounds.

York’s McCallum led all scorers with 24 points and had three steals, while Emily Perras (Lindsay, Ont.) and Tara Minicuci had 16 and 14 points, respectively.

The Varsity Blues are on the road in Kingston next weekend (Jan. 30th and 31st) to take on the RMC Paladins and Queen’s Gaels. Game times are scheduled for 6 p.m. both nights.