TORONTO – The Lakehead University Women’s Basketball team was defeated 69- 64 by the York Lions. In a back and forth affair, Lakehead made their run in the third quarter (26-13 in the Q), erasing a 4-point halftime deficit and established a 48-39 lead heading into the final frame.
The fourth was all York, however, as the Lions forced Lakehead into multiple turnovers (and 28 total in the game), and moved into the lead with 5 minutes remaining. York held on down the stretch, despite a late push by the T-Wolves that included a catch-and-shoot three pointer by Kelsey Bardsley with 7 seconds left to get Lakehead within one, 65-64. After hitting two free throws to make it 67-64 with 5.5 seconds to play, York stole an inbounds pass at half and took it the length of the floor to seal the victory.
Lakehead’s top scorer was Lindsay Druery with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Kelsey Bardsley had 14 and Carolyn Fragale 12 (and 4 assists).
York had 4 players in double digits, led by Llyandra Kerr and Brittany Szockyj with 19 each. Courtney Osbourne had 14 (and 10 rebounds) and Nadia Qahwash 13.
Lakehead did shoot the ball considerably better than York, 45% (24-53) to 35% (23-65), and out-rebounded them 33-29.
Jon Kreiner was clear on the reason for his team’s loss, “Turnovers in the 4th quarter killed us tonight. We played 3 great defensive quarters of basketball and got our offense going in the 3rd to get the lead we needed to put york away. We really struggled to move the ball and get what we wanted and it cost us a game. We also struggled to get to the foul line which is something we’ve been pretty consistent with. We’ve got to throw that one away and get ready for Laurentian.”
Coverage of Sunday’s game is on SSN Canada at 6PM.