THUNDER BAY – Sports – This weekend there is sports action on tap in Thunder Bay with the Lakehead University Thunderwolves. The Skinny – The LU basketball teams will host the Waterloo Warriors for a weekend series as both T-Wolf squads jockey for playoff position. Game times are 6 and 8 pm, Friday and Saturday.
Women’s Match-up (T-Wolves 7-9, Warriors 1-15)
Waterloo’s women’s team, no doubt one of the youngest lineups in the country (1 junior, 7 sophomores and 6 freshmen), has gone through its share of struggles this year with obvious intentions of building a base for the future. They are led by Laura Burnett with 8.7 PPG and Marti Killeen with 8.5 PPG and 4.2 RPG. Lakehead will look to use their veteran post players, Lindsay Druery and Lacey McNulty to try and even up their record to 9-9 against this under-sized opponent.
Last Match-up Results: Last year the women swept this series in Waterloo, 73-59 and 76-59. In those games Lindsay Druery lit up the Warriors, with 20 and 10 in the first game, followed by a monumental 33 point, 22 rebound effort the following evening, which earned her OUA Athlete of the Week honors.
Coach Kreiner says, “After some tough games on the road against defending national champs Windsor we are looking forward to the atmosphere of the Thunderdome to help get us back on track. Waterloo is a very scrappy team with great athleticism and length. They will challenge us all over the court and will look to force us to our weaknesses. Laura Burnett and Marti Killeen are playing very well right now and will force us to make adjustments over the weekend. We must be disciplined enough to play good perimeter defense without fouling and pursue the basketball on shots.”
Men’s Match-up (T-Wolves 14-2; Warriors 4-12)
Coming off two big wins on the road in Windsor, Scott Morrison’s team aims to finish off the season strong with 4 home games and 2 road games remaining, all against the bottom tier of OUA West opponents. Although Waterloo’s record (4-12) could be taken as a comfort going into this weekend, the T-Wolves can take no opponent for granted, given they are two points behind Laurier for first place in the OUA West (with one game in hand). It’s also worth noting that Waterloo did defeat the men’s team last season.
Waterloo is led by veteran Cam McIntyre, whose status going into the weekend is unknown. He missed both of last weekend’s games due to undisclosed reasons (possibly a nagging injury). He has averaged 13.4 PPG this season, and is a very potent threat from outside if not guarded closely. Warriors’ guard Mike Wright has put up 14.8 points per contest.
Last Match-up Results: The Warriors took the first game of the double header in Waterloo last year, 79-65, before the ‘Wolves recouped a 65-58 win the following evening. In both games Waterloo relied on a sagging defense to limit penetration and control rebounds, while giving up open looks to Lakehead shooters. In the Warriors’ win, Lakehead shot 11-37 (30% from three point land), and didn’t shoot much better the next game from distance (10-28, 36%), but played better defense to secure the win.
Coach Morrison says, “We are nearing the stretch run in conference play and it starts to become more tempting to start looking towards the end of the season. We have to avoid just that and stay focused on having good practices and executing one game at a time. Waterloo defeated us last season thanks to some great team defense and strong shooting. We are going to have to gear up and give another top notch effort as a team this week.”
Webcast coverage will be available via SSN Canada, www.ssncanada.ca/games and play-by-play is available via CILU Radio, 102.7 FM, www.luradio.ca