Lady Hawks split weekend

Defence was a valuable asset on Friday night.

The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (4-2) women’s basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs (2-4) by a score of 57-33 on Friday night.

Laurier’s defence allowed the second-lowest recorded points scored by an opponent in team history. The record was established last year when the Golden Hawks held the Waterloo Warriors to just 19 points.

“I thought we had a pretty good game, and [we were] pretty solid defensively,” said Paul Falco, head coach of the Golden Hawks. “I thought we were a little slow out of the gate.”

From the opening tip-off, the game was slow-paced, with a mere 19 points combined scored in the first quarter. Leading 11-8 going into the second, the Hawks re-established their composure, and held the Lady Vees to only six points, taking a 25-14 advantage going into the third.

In the second half, the contest was back and forth, staging good ball control by both teams. Laurier would lead by as much as 25 points in the third quarter, until the Voyageurs found an extra push and closed the gap to 12.

However, the lady Hawks found their fire as they finished the contest strong and sealed their third-straight win.

“We didn’t move the ball as well as we had practiced all week, but eventually we got some offensive boards by Kim [Yeldon] and Doreen [Bonsu] and that got us started and then we seemed to relax a little bit and play a little better offensively.”

Bonsu, Felicia Mazerolle and Christa Mancino all ended the contest with eleven points each, a team high for the night.

Yeldon also found the spotlight, scoring eight points and gaining 11 rebounds. Mazerolle pulled six assists and four rebounds in the match.

“Felicia [Mazerolle] creates a lot of havoc and gives some of the opposing point guards trouble with the ball and then she’s a key to our transition game,” reflected Falco.

“She head-mans the ball and she’s knocking down some shots now which makes her tough to stop.”

Laurentian’s top scorer was forward Mary Scott with nine points.

Aside from the strong effort of the veterans, the rookies also had a chance to showcase their talent.

Shelby Kurt, Samantha Jacobs, Courtney Bruce and Natasha Valconi all saw playing time in the duration of the game.

Kurt and Jacobs also recorded five and two points respectively.

“I think Shelby [Kurt] had a good second half, and Sam Jacobs gave us a good couple shifts,” Falco said. “Her defence was solid and she got some offensive blasts for us.

“The rest of the girls got some minutes, which is important in their growth. They’ve been working hard at practice and we try to get them in when we can.”

The following night, Laurier couldn’t find their offence and fell in a close match to the York Lions, 52-51.

“York [was] going to be a tough game,” Falco commented.

“They’ve got a bunch of really good three-point shooters and some really good rookies that are three-point shooters.”

Laurier travels to Ottawa this weekend hoping to improve their record as they challenge the Ottawa Gee-Gees and the Carleton Ravens on the road.