THUNDER BAY, ON – In a game that began with a very sluggish 1st half, the LU Thunderwolves were able to weather the storm through the second half to finish 55-45 over Wilfred Laurier on Friday night. The ‘Wolves now move to 8-4, sitting in 3rd place in the OUA West, but remain 2 points back of Laurier.
The first half looked as if most players had forgotten to lace up their shoes, with many turnovers being committed by both teams, and the half time score a very quiet 27-14. Ayse Kalkan provided the lone spark for LU in the first quarter, hitting a three and following with 2 more baskets for 7 points in the quarter. Lacey McNulty began to find her touch in the second quarter, but was the only ‘Wolf to do so, as she scored 7 of LU’s 10 second-quarter points. McNulty finished with 15 and 7 rebounds. Tasia Mckenna was next highest with 13 points and 4 assists.
For Laurier, Renata Adamczyk was held to 3 points after having 16 the night prior. Megan Grant (Thunder Bay) was the standout for Laurier with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals. Laurier shot 25% from the floor, while Lakehead shot a shade better at 30%. A big difference maker for LU was the shot making of rookie Darcy Zinck, who hit 2 critical threes in the 4th quarter while Laurier was making a push.
Jon Kreiner liked the effort tonight, especially that of Corina Bruni, “Tonight we came out with a much stronger attitude. We were tougher when we needed to be and played great team defense. Corina Bruni was our best player tonight with 6 steals, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. She has started to come out of her sophomore slump. When you have a team like Laurier that plays tough defense you have to be patient and not get frustrated. The runs will be there and your best players will hit big shots and that happened tonight. We need to be more consistent on both ends of the floor as we prepare for McMaster”.