Durham College women’s basketball head coach Heather LaFontaine was recognized by her peers as the top college coach in Ontario as she was named the 2014 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) coach of the year. The award was presented on Thursday morning at the championship banquet hosted by Mohawk College.

LaFontaine was one of four representatives from Durham who received an OCAA league award as student-athletes Kauri LaFontaine, Kate Mowat and Kelsey Hare, all of which are from Whitby, earned all-star recognition.

In her first year as head coach at Durham, LaFontaine led the Lords to a program high 23 overall wins and earned an automatic bye into the provincial championship after finishing in second place in the OCAA east region with a 13-3 conference record. It was quite a turnaround season for the green and gold as they ended the 2013 season with a 3-15 conference record, missing out on a berth in the OCAA championship for the seventh straight season. The Lords also had plenty of success off the court as over half of the roster finished the first semester on the honour roll.

It was also announced at the banquet that LaFontaine would be put forward as the OCAA’s nomination for the national coach of the year award.

Earning a place on the OCAA first all-star team was Durham guard Kauri LaFontaine. The project management major played a big role in the Lords success as she finished in the top ten of almost every statistical category in the OCAA. Her playmaking ability was her most impressive attribute as she led the league averaging 5.1 assists per game. She was seventh in scoring with 15.1 points per game and ninth in rebounding with 8.6 boards per game. LaFontaine recorded six double-doubles throughout the season.

Kelsey Hare, who finished the year second in OCAA all-time scoring, was named a second team all-star. The web design major focused on becoming a more well-balanced player in 2014, working on her play in the defensive zone. That work paid off as she finished 13th in the league in blocks (15) and 14th overall in steals (35). Offensively, Hare put would put up big numbers once again as she averaged 13.4 points per game and 3.4 assists per game, fifth highest in the OCAA. This was Hare’s fourth OCAA all-star of her five-year career.

Joining Hare on the second all-star team was project management major Kate Mowat. The Lords forward was one of the most consistent players for coach LaFontaine as she averaged 12.9 points per game to finish ninth in league scoring. In 11 of the Lords’ 16 games, she scored at least 10 points. She also had a large presence on the glass averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.

The Lords will open up the OCAA championship against the hosting Mohawk Mountaineers. Game time in Hamilton is 6 p.m.

For a full list of OCAA women’s basketball award winners, visit www.ocaa.com.

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Day 1- February 27, 2014
Game 1: St Lawrence Kingston vs. St. Clair 1:00 p.m.
Game 2: Fanshawe vs. Algonquin 3:00 p.m.
Game 3: Mohawk vs. Durham 6:00 p.m.
Game 4: Sheridan vs. Humber 8:00 p.m.

Day 2 –February 28, 2014
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8 p.m.

Day 3 –March 1, 2014
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 6, 9 a.m.
Game 10: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5, 11 a.m.
Bronze: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 5 p.m.
Gold: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 7 p.m.