Badgers toppled by surging Golden Hawks
Coming off a big win earlier in the week to start the New Year, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (7-3) were looking to continue their streak by overcoming the undefeated Brock Badgers (9-1) at the Athletic Complex on Jan. 7.
Despite a back and forth start to the second half to keep the game close, the Lady Hawks managed to string together a heart-pumping final quarter to pull away with a 77-69 win and handing Brock its first loss of the season.
Laurier had an impressive start to the game, establishing a comfortable lead early while ending the first quarter, up 20-13 on the Badgers.
Defence was a major factor in keeping Brock at bay.
The second-quarter saw Brock make a comeback despite Laurier picking off many important rebounds and brought the game within three points at 31-28.
The third-quarter saw an intense game of cat and mouse take place where both teams shared control of the lead until Laurier managed to barely push ahead going into the final quarter at 49-48.
Fourth-quarter action allowed Laurier to shine, where they capitalized on their free-throws and continued a strong defence to come away with the 77-69 win.
Christa Mancino and Felicia Mazerolle were key players in the final quarter, amassing 15 and 12 points respectively to end the game.
Shelby Kurt also ended the night with an exceptional 19 points to lead the team in scoring. Brock’s Andrea Polischuk led the game overall with a total of 22 points.
“Felicia and Shelby specifically were spark plugs for us,” said head coach Paul Falco.
Falco also added that “the girls did a good job of handling the full-court pressure Brock put on us and a good job of contesting those shots they put on us. That was important to our victory.”
The team will try to continue their strong defensive rotation for their game against Lakehead on Jan. 13.
“If we keep getting better month after month here then we want to be playing our best basketball come February,” said Falco. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Athletic Complex.