Guelph, Ont – SPORTS – The Lakehead University Thunderwolves women’s basketball team came up against a hot-shooting Guelph Gryphons team on Saturday, losing 84-67.
The Gryphons put a hurt on the ”Wolves in the first quarter, racing out to a 27-10 lead after first quarter. It would be more of the same in the second quarter, Guelph taking a 50-30 lead into the locker room.
Lakehead was able to put up 20 points in the third quarter and cut Guelph’s lead to 13, trailing 63-50 with 10 minutes to play.
Lakehead scored 2 quick hoops to cut the lead to 9 early in the fourth, but it was followed by Williams picking up her fourth foul, which forced her to sit for a minute.
Guelph would respond soon thereafter, scoring 5 straight points.
The Gryphons were fuelled by Katelyn Yallin, who shot the ball incredibly from beyond the arc, hitting all six of her three point attempts on the game, two coming in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Dana Van Balkom was also on fire from long range, hitting on 6 of her 8 three’s and finished with a game-high 26 points.
The Gryphons hit 12 of their 21 three pointers, compared to Lakehead’s 6-of-33.
Jylisa Williams finished with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 7 steals. In doing so she set the bar for the single season scoring record at 548 points. Katelyn Andrea had 14 points and 7 rebounds.
Coach Jon Kreiner said, “Guelph handed it to us tonight from start to finish. They played hungry and without anything to lose, and won every battle tonight. Full credit to Guelph as they shot the lights out and took away our chance at a first round bye. Now we must move forward and prepare for Western on Wednesday in the Thunderdome.”
Playoff Implications
With the loss the women’s team slips in the OUA playoff seedings to 5th, having lost the opportunity to win a tie-breaker with McMaster (had they gotten the victory on Saturday evening). As it stands McMaster wins the tie-breaker by virtue of their 15-4 regular season record, compared to Lakehead’s 14-5 record.
POST SEASON TICKETS INFO
Wednesday, February 25
6:00pm – Women vs. Western
8:00pm – Men vs. TBD
Adults tickets: $15
Student/Senior(65+): $10
Tickets will go on sale Sunday morning at the fieldhouse. Season Ticket holders will have until Tuesday to purchase their tickets and have their reserved seating remain in effect.
