Women's basketball clinches first in OUA
By Michal Tellos
Sports Editor
February 4, 2009
 The Lancers women’s basketball team has extended their winning streak to 14 in a row to move up to 17-1 on the season.
They have now officially clinched first place in the OUA.
The certainty came after two key road wins, first against the Guelph Gryphons, 89-57, and then against the Waterloo Warriors 76-64.
The game against Guelph was yet another dominating Lancer performance from start to finish, as the girls captured the lead early in the first quarter and never looked back.
The Gryphons were outscored in every quarter due to their mediocre shooting from the field and their atrocious shooting from the line.
The Lancers put the game totally out of reach by the end of the third, when they were already up by 24.
Like so many of the games so far this year, it was a team effort with the scoring spread out quite evenly.
Four players made it to the double-digits including Emily Abbott, Iva Peklova, Dranadia Roc, and Alisa Wulff. Wulff led the way with 21 points and seven rebounds.
The game in Waterloo provided a bigger challenge, but the familiar outcome remained the same, and the Lancers prevailed by a sizeable margin.
As has happened recently, the team started a bit poorly, being outscored in both of the first quarters, going down by seven at the half.
However, the women stormed back early, closing the gap to just one point in the third quarter, and ultimately winning by 12.
The team managed to hold the Warriors to a mere five points in the final frame.
Four players were once again in double-digit scoring, this time including Peklova, Roc, Wulff, and Shavaun Reaney. Peklova led the team with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.
In response to concerns about the team’s recent starts, Head Coach Chantal Vallee is confident and unworried.
“It’s not about how you start games, but about how you finish them,” she said reassuringly.
The rocky start in the week’s second game can also be attributed to the nature of the game and how it went.
“It was a super physical game. We got bumped, bruised and hacked all the time. We love contact and we thrived in the end,” said Vallee.
Vallee also alluded to how a game as physical and intense as the Warriors match up helps in the long run.
“So we just clinched first place officially today and the home play-off court advantage all the way to the OUA championship. Couldn’t ask for better at this point. We need tough games and teams to play us while giving it their all,” she said.
There are now just four games left for the girls before the playoffs, and the next two will be at home.
The first will be against the McMaster Marauders on Wednesday Feb. 4, while on Saturday the women will host the Brock Badgers.
Two games in Thunder Bay will close the season out, as the women will battle against the Thunderwolves twice in two days.
|
