THUNDER BAY – The Lakehead University women’s basketball team were able to pull out a 76-72 win over the visiting Brock Badgers. The Thunderwolves came alive in the fourth quarter after they had trailed all game long, by as wide a margin as 16 points at times. There was only 32 seconds left in the game when LU took their first lead of the night, thanks to a pair of free throws from Lindsay Druery.
It would seem as if Lakehead’s success was defined on the free throw line, as they only attempted one free throw in the first half, compared to 26 in the final 20 minutes. What meant more was that the ‘Wolves hit on 85% of them, totaling 23 of 27. Druery hit 9 of 10, Tasia McKenna 8 of 8, and Sarah Gordon stroked 5 of 6.
McKenna led LU scorers with 21 points to go with 6 assists, Druery 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Gordon finished with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Lakehead scored 34 points in the 4th quarter, after scoring only 42 up to that point.
Brock, after playing a brilliant up-tempo game, had three players in double digits, led by guard Emily McKay with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, along with Samantha De Jong with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Jessica Del Signore had 11 points and 4 steals.
LU coach Jon Kreiner acknowledged the exceedingly slim margin of victory. “We definitely stole that one with a great 4th quarter. All week long we talked about getting to the free throw line against this team and we had one free throw at the half. We ended up shooting 27 because we moved the ball, played with more energy and played hard right to the end. I really thought our first year players (Ashley Randall & Katie Ulakovic) sparked us in the second half. Emily McKay played great for Brock tonight so we will need to find a way to contain her.”
Tomorrow night’s game will be ‘Seniors Night’, as Sarah Gordon and Tasia McKenna will play their final regular season home games of their distinguished careers as Thunderwolves. A pre-game ceremony will honor their contribution to Lakehead Basketball.