Lakehead did its best to battle back after a tough first 20 minutes, trailing 42-25 at halftime. Despite their best efforts to push back in the second half, the Mustangs always had an answer. In a ‘starters-vs-starters’ slug-fest, 4 starting players for both teams clocked over 31 minutes apiece, led by Mustang Laura Dally, who logged 39 minutes and made the most of it, registering a triple-double on the night.
Lakehead’s Carolyn Fragale put up a 32-point performance (8-14 from 3pt, 12-26 overall), out-doing the CIS #4 scorer Jenny Vaughan, who finished with 21 points on the night. With the most impressive performance on the night, however, was Mustang Laura Dally’s triple-double, finishing with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists (and 4 steals and 2 blocks, for good measure).
Following Fragale, Ayse Kalkan scored 15 with 9 rebounds. Jessica de Hann grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds (4 offensive).
Two other Mustangs reached double digits, with Mara Greunke scoring 14, followed by Annabel Hancock with 13.
The Mustangs shot an incredible 53% from the field (32-60), compared to a modest 37% (27-73) for the Thunderwolves.
Coach Jon Kreiner commented post-game, “Western came out with more energy and toughness than we did and we were soft defensively in the first half. We came out with better defensive ball pressure and made some nice runs in the second half but Dally’s triple double and Vaughn’s elite play were too much for us.”
The two teams will rematch tomorrow evening at 6 pm.
Webcast coverage provided by Mustangs TV, courtesy of SSN Canada
