Box Score Fourth-year guard Keyira Parkes and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's basketball team defeated the York Lions 59-57 to clinch a playoff spot on Saturday night (Feb. 10) at the Tait McKenzie Centre.

Parkes drained a game-high 20 points to push the Blues winning streak to four-game. The third-year guard is averaging 18.9 points per game in 2018.

Second-year forward Nada Radonjic hit two key three-pointers in the fourth quarter to amass 10 points. She also grabbed a team-high five rebounds and three steals in the victory. 

Chante Clarke led the way for the Lions with 17 points and seven rebounds in the losing effort. In Lindsay Shotbolt's last home game of her career, she tallied eight points, three steals, two blocks and a monstrous 19 rebounds.

The Blues record upgrades to 9-12 and are only two games back of York for the fifth spot in the OUA East division. The Lions drop to 11-10 on the season.

Toronto got off to a slow start shooting under 15 percent from the field in the first quarter. Sarah Bennett kept them in it with six points, but the Blues were doubled up, trailing 19-8 after the opening 10 minutes.

Toronto was better offensively in the second quarter. They created a 9-2 run right off the bat to cut the deficit to just two at one point but were down 28-23 at halftime.

Parkes stepped up and showed off her offensive abilities out of the locker room. The third-year guard drained seven straight points as the Blues went on a 9-2 run to tie things up. She netted a total of 11 points at the end of the third quarter, but more importantly the team took their first lead of the game at 42-41.

Six different players recorded a bucket for the Blues in the fourth quarter. One of which was Radonjic, who drilled two three-pointers and assisted on the Blues last basket. On the final possession, she forced Shotbolt to miss the game-winner to seal the deal.

Toronto is back in action on Friday, February 16 when they battle the Laurentian Voyageurs in the first of back-to-back home game. All the action begins at 6 p.m. at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

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