THUNDER BAY – Sports – The Lakehead University women’s basketball team kicked off 2012 with a home win over the Western Mustangs, 74-58 on Friday evening.
In the first half the ‘Wolves were flowing well in their offensive sets, with Lindsay Druery and Carolyn Fragale scoring 8 apiece in the first 20 minutes. After missing her first three shots, Kelsey Barsdley struck twice in a row from long range, one being a pull-up three on a fast break that caught nothing but net (Bardsley finished 3-of-6 from behind the arc).
Western was forced to switch up their defensive strategy, first to a 2-3, and then a 3-2 zone, with negligible results as Lakehead rolled to a 42-26 score after 20 minutes. Ashley Randall was also putting in lots of hard work under the rim, grabbing 5 first half boards. She would finish with 10 points and 5 boards in 29 minutes of work.
Towards the end of the first half, Western coach Brian Cheung had benched most of his starters and had 4 rookies and a sophomore out on the floor.
The second half didn’t turn out much better for the visitors, as Lakehead remained in control with a comfortable 15-point cushion they would not relinquish.
Lindsay Druery was Lakehead’s top scorer with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Carolyn Fragale was top rebounder with 9 to go with 14 points (6-of-11 shooting) and 5 assists. Lacey McNulty went 5-of-8 from the floor for 10 points to go with 6 boards and 2 steals. Ten Thunderwolves would make it onto the score sheet.
Western’s Jenny Vaughan topped the Mustangs roster with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Rookie Jory McDonald had 15 to go with 7 rebounds and a blocked shot, while Katelyn Leddy, who started off hot, got into foul trouble and finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes.
Coach Jon Kreiner shared after the game, “This was a great team win to start 2012. Twenty-five total assists shows just how well we moved the ball. Ashley Randall came off the bench and gave us some hugh minutes at the forward position and Kelsey Bardsley hit some key shots. Overall our bench scoring was great tonight and we played decent perimeter defense. We will need to improve our post defense and not foul as much tomorrow and we must come out strong right from the get go.”
The two teams will rematch tomorrow at 6pm.
Game coverage, as always, will be available on SSN Canada, www.ssncanada.ca, and CILU Radio, 102.7 FM and www.luradio.ca.