Women's basketball stuns team on the road
By Michal Tellos
Sports Editor
November 26, 2008
 The Lancers women’s basketball team rolled on over the weekend, as they dominated two tough opponents – the Laurentian Voyageurs and the York Lions.
Laurentian was the big test. They are a top-10 ranked team in Canada. The home crowd was eager, but they were disappointed, as the Lancers floored them in the first quarter, and never looked back.
The girls outscored them 28-15 in the frame, and they outplayed them thoroughly throughout the rest of the game as well.
The game ended with a score of 82-63.
The standout player for the Lancers was, once again, Division I transfer Alisa Wulff. She had a monster double-double, scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Dranadia Roc also chipped in with 21 points, but Head Coach Chantal Vallee singled out Wulff for the win.
“I have to say that Friday was probably our most important game against Laurentian because they’re a top ten ranked team as well, and they made a big deal out of it – they had a pep rally before the game, and the gym was packed for the women’s game. And they had all kinds of fans behind our bench that were screaming and saying all kinds of funny and less funny things. But Alisa turned to me and said ‘I love that stuff,’ and I think she really performed in one of her best games this year,” she said.
“And she brought the team with her to excel, and that’s how I think we were able to beat a very, very good top ten-ranked team. And I would point out Alisa’s performance leadership, too, in part, as to why we won that game that handily,” she added.
Saturday’s game went much the same way – the Lancers outscored and outplayed the Lions throughout.
The final score was another blowout, 80-60.
Vallee had only beaten the Lions once in her career, and she was more than pleased with the outcome.
“I think we reacted really, really well to the whole trip in general, and I think we were able to give it everything against York and I was absolutely very pleased.”
The road trip was particularly difficult considering the traveling distance – it was a nine-hour bus ride to Laurentian, and then a five hour bus ride to York right after the first game. Fatigue clearly wasn’t a factor.
The team has truly grown as a competitive road squad under Vallee, even though it has been a very new experience for her.
“Before I had only been coaching in Montreal, and games were five minutes away and you get home really early. So it’s definitely something to get used to but now it’s something to look forward to,” she said.
“And it’s good for us, if we’re going to go far and make it to a championship, we need to learn to play on the road, win on the road, and play under different circumstances. So it’s a good thing,” she added.
Going into the road trip, the team wanted to work on zone defence, which they did, but not to the extent that Vallee wanted to.
“We worked on the zone a little bit, but we still have a lot more to work on. For some reason it seems like every time we stop playing the zone, teams start shooting the lights out. It is a good defensive zone, but it is one of our weaknesses to allow shooters to shoot,” she said.
“But we were able to play it this weekend and work on it a little bit, and I’m happy where we are with that.”
The final two games of the season will be on the road, and they will also be against two tough teams: the Royal Military College Paladins and the Queen’s Golden Gaels.
Vallee wants to wrap up the semester with a pair of wins.
“Well it’s the last road trip of the semester, so obviously we want to finish on a very positive note. Queen’s and RMC are two teams that I believe, if we play our Windsor Lancer basketball, and concentrate on ourselves, we should emerge as winners. However, they will be very confident – they have improved a lot,” she said.
Vallee also has a personal interest in the game, as she has never been able to beat Queen’s – on the road or at home.
“To me it would be a huge early Christmas present if we are able to beat Queen’s and RMC. It will be tough, but again, you live for those moments and you enjoy them, and you learn to perform,” she said.
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