Hawks outlast Gee-Gees in double OT

Photo by Alex Trkulja

The Wilfrid Laurier University women’s basketball team picked up a win and a loss in their first two home games of the season this past weekend.

In the home opener Friday night, the Golden Hawks managed to pull off an exciting 87-83 win over the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in double overtime.

It was a high tempo game right from tip off, as both teams traded baskets early in the contest, with Ottawa holding a 19-17 lead after the first quarter.

During the second quarter of play, Golden Hawk guard Nicole Morrison became the fourth player in Laurier history to score 1000 career points in a women’s basketball jersey.

Carleton, who were OUA champions and eventual U-Sport bronze medalists last season, showed why they are one of the top ranked teams in Canada.

Head Coach Paul Falco talked about this historic milestone for Morrison.

“She gives us everything she’s got every day. Her ability to grow as a player from year one to year five has been evident,” he said.

“I think it’s a great recognition for her to reach that milestone because she’s been one of the top players that this program has seen.”

Morrison would go on to score a team high of 21 points in the game, while also contributing six assists.

Both teams would keep up the high tempo play that they started with and stay within a handful of points of each other for most of the third and fourth quarters.

Rachel Woodburn would send the contest to overtime for Laurier, knocking down a game-tying free throw with 12 seconds to play in regulation.

Woodburn would come up clutch once again, scoring seven points in the second overtime period to help seal the win.

“I thought the effort was really good,” Falco said.

“Ottawa battled just as hard and obviously the game could’ve gone either way. It came down to us making a couple key plays in that second overtime.”

When asked about the team’s success to start the season, Falco mentioned that “getting contribution from different people” has been integral.

“If you look at last weekend, we had different people step up offensively and we had some of our bench players come in and give us great defensive minutes as well,” Falco stated.

“When we do that, it makes it harder for teams to guard us and allows us to extend the floor and keep our transition game up.”

Going into game two of the weekend, Falco knew that Laurier would be in for a test against Carleton.

“We know they are a tough team. I think it’s going to be good to gauge ourselves – at this stage in the season – against probably the top team in Ontario.”

Falco’s prediction of Carleton being a tough opponent held true, as Laurier dropped their second game of the weekend on Saturday, by a score of 77-50.

Carleton, who were OUA champions and eventual U-Sport bronze medalists last season, showed why they are one of the top ranked teams in Canada.

The Ravens took control early, jumping out to a ten-point lead after the first quarter, and carried that momentum throughout the remainder of the contest.

The one positive that the Golden Hawks may be able to take out of the loss is that the 50 points they scored are the most that any team has managed against Carleton so far this season.

Following the weekend, Laurier now finds themselves with a 3-2 record, good enough for third place in the OUA West division.

The Golden Hawks will be back on home court for a pair of games on Nov. 17 and 18 against York and Queen’s.

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