Thunder Bay, Ont. – SPORTS – The Lakehead Thunderwolves Basketball goes on the road this weekend to visit North Bay and Sudbury, as they take on the Nipissing Lakers and the Laurentian Voyageurs.
The women’s basketball team (CIS #11 for the second week running) look to finish the first half of the season strong this weekend against the Nipissing Lakers (0-4) and the Laurentian Voyageurs (2-3).
In their first season in the OUA, Nipissing has struggled thus far, scoring an average of 23 points per game while allowing almost 80 points against. Last season Lakehead defeated Laurentian 54-50 in Sudbury.
Lakehead will have to defend and rebound the three-pointer against the Voyageurs, who have taken over 27 three’s per game thus far, making just over 6 on average.
Coach Jon Kreiner states, “The Lakers are in their first year and are still growing while Laurentian is a very dangerous squad who defeated Carleton recently. This will be a tough and busy road trip but it will be a good challenge. Our focus will be to play for a full eighty minutes this weekend and to play solid defence without fouling.”
The Nipissing men (0-4) are seeking their first OUA win, with the Thunderwolves looking to move their record over the .500 mark this weekend. Laurentian (2-3) has undergone some turnover in their line up, no longer with the services of Alex Ratte, who scored 28 points in the Voyageurs’ 91-68 victory over the ‘Wolves last season.
However, they do feature Ryan Bennett, who is third in the OUA in three-pointers made with 17 thus far in 5 games played and is averaging 16.0 points per game.
Coach Manny Furtado shares, “Heading into the winter exams we have 2 very important games on the road at Nipissing and Laurentian. Both teams pose different challenges for us. Nipissing have some long athletic posts that control the inside well, while Laurentian have some athletic perimeter players that attack the basket and can shoot the three. We need to be disciplined and defend every possession if we want to be successful this weekend.”
Weekend Schedule:
Friday, Nov 28 vs. Nipissing Lakers
6:00 – women
8:00 – men
Saturday, Nov 29 vs. Laurentian Voyageurs
6:00 – women
8:00 – men