HAMILTON – SPORTS – The Lakehead University Thunderwolves women’s hoops team came up just short of sweeping the #6 team in the country, dropping a 63-59 decision to the McMaster Marauders Saturday.
Things looked good early for Lakehead to pick up where they left off from Friday night, as they led 17-13 after 1st quarter, Jylisa Williams scoring 10 in the the first frame.
McMaster’s defense picked it up a few notches in the second quarter, forcing Lakehead into two 24-second clock violations in the Q and 11 total turnovers in the first half. The Marauders limited the ‘Wolves to 5 points in the second quarter and led 29-22 at the half.
While the Marauders did stretch out their lead throughout the second half, eventually leading by 15 with 6:30 remaining in the game, Lakehead did push back in the final minutes, but fell just short of completing the comeback.
Jylisa Williams continued her offensive ways, scoring 34 points with 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Cassandra Soulias came off the bench to score 8 points in 18 minutes of play.
For McMaster Clare Kenney showed full resolve in the paint, grabbing 12 rebounds and scoring 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting in 33 minutes. Veteran guard Danielle Boiago scored 15 points with 7 rebounds in 38 minutes of court time. Hilary Hanaka also logged 38 minutes with 6 points and 4 rebounds.
Coach Jon Kreiner stated postgame, “We knew the energy would be down and scoring might be at a premium this eve, playing the same team who made adjustments from Friday. They executed their game plan and Clare Kenney stepped up for McMaster. She was their answer every time we made a run. I’m proud of getting the split in the Hammer but we still had the opportunity to sweep them despite some poor decisions, especially in the second quarter.”
With the win the women’s basketball team’s record is now 3-1 and they sit in first place in the Central division. They return home to play a single game next weekend against #1 Windsor.
