Lancers find point in beating dead horse
By Ryan Rogers
Sports Editor
January 16, 2008
 The Lancers Women’s Basketball Team took down one of their most difficult opponents with a solid outing last Wednesday against the Western Mustangs. With a competitive battle for the playoffs in the next few weeks, winning tough points against the top teams in their division like Western (2nd) and McMaster (1st) will be challenging imperatives.
The Lancers started the night off with an early lead on the Mustangs, and fought to get tough shots from in close. Some quick plays from Shavaun Reaney, Marissa Bozzetto and Dranadia Roc put the Lancers out in front with a first quarter score of 25-15.
Raelyn Prince and Iva Peklova shut down the Western offense with an excellent, tall-standing defensive effort.
In the second, the Lancers went shot-for-shot against the Mustangs, preventing the opposition from gaining any ground, and closed out the first half up 40-30.
The Lancers came out of the change room on fire, and suffocated the Mustangs with stifling defense. The ladies made good on their possessions and outscored Western 20 to eight. The third quarter was the Dranadia Roc show, who threw up nine points on her way to finishing with a game high 29.
The Mustangs were effectively taken out of the game due to their third quarter results, down 60-38.
The Lancers, however, found sense in beating a dead horse, and tallied another 21 points cruising to a 79-60 final.
Western responded in the fourth with a full-court defense to keep pressure on the Lancers, who were most interested in running out the clock to end the game.
The Mustangs set out in the fourth quarter to close the point spread, which could come into play should there be a tie in the standings at the end of the season.
The standings were cleared up a little after the Lancer victory, breaking a four-way tie for forth spot in the western division.
Now the ladies sit tied for fourth with only Brock, as they continue to battle for their playoff lives in a tight race for the post season.
Head coach Chantal Vallee said, “We played well inside and outside. We’ve got tall girls and strong posts and that gives us a good inside game, and when the guards start shooting the ball and making their shots, we are quite unbeatable.”
“I thought our defense was much better… Limiting them to 8 points in the third is wonderful, it’s great defense,” she continued.
The “Twin Towers” of Peklova and Prince shut down the Mustangs’ offense in the second half, limiting them to a mere 30 points.
Beating the second place Mustangs was just as important in the dressing room as it was in the standings. “It’s very significant,” said Vallee. “Western is one of the top two teams. They only had two losses, and for us, it’s a team that’s above us. We got to see where we stand. Now we know we can beat Western, and that’s extremely significant for the playoffs and the rest of the season for confidence. It puts us in good standings to go play against McMaster which are one of the best teams in the country and see where we are after that. So we know now we can beat at least the second best team in the league.”
With a 7-5 record, and tied for fourth, behind Laurier, Western and McMaster, the Lancer ladies are in for a “dog fight” against McMaster, said Vallee.
McMaster is the 4th highest ranked team in the CIS, and the number one ranked team in the OUA. They have been the yardstick by which all other teams are measured this season.
“That’s going to be a tough one, going to be a dog fight, go out there and fight and fight and fight and fight, and gosh if we can find ourselves close to or are able to beat the best team in our league, we’re in a great spot for the playoffs,” said Vallee.
Reaney was trusted with 28 minutes on the floor, scoring 17 points, including 3 three-pointers, Prince had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Peklova had five points, 11 rebounds. Amanda Anderson led the Mustangs with 20 points, three assists, and three rebounds.
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