WINDSOR, Ont. — The Wilfrid Laurier women’s basketball team knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
They were walking into the No. 1 nationally ranked Windsor Lancers’ gym with a large home crowd and a very athletic team in front of them.
But the Hawks were too small compared to the three time national champions, as they dropped the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West final 86-58.
“They’re a great team, they’re ranked number one in the country for a reason,” fourth-year Whitney Ellenor said. “They come out and compete hard every single game and we needed to come out and compete hard as well. I think we did a good job, but I think we turned the ball over too much and that’s what killed us.”
The Hawks began the game with a steep uphill battle, trailing by as much as twelve by the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter, the Hawks kept wth the Lancers but couldn’t get out of the hole they were into, as the Lancers scored 23 points to Laurier’s 17.
Windsor was too strong and athletic down low under the basket for Laurier to allow their post players to get any room.
However in the third quarter, Ellenor helped the Hawks gain some momentum, putting up ten of her 18 total points. Laurier was able to put up 22 points in the third, but the gap between them and the Lancers was too big, as they led 63-49 with ten minutes to go.
Windsor would put up 23 points in the final frame while Laurier only mustered nine to finish off the game.
The likes of Miah-Marie Langlois, Korissa Williams, Cheyanne Roger tallied up 24, 22 and 20 points respectively for the Lancers, mustering almost all of the offence Windsor needed.
“I think we saw what they do best and that really hurt us. Their pressure hurt us in terms of turnovers and it created a lot of transition and easy hoops for them,” head coach Paul Falco said. “And their inside presence, their size inside, a couple of their post players, they really took advantage of put-backs on the boards. And they played a good overall game.”
However, Falco said that he believes Laurier played well against a strong team.
“I think our girls battled extremely hard. It probably didn’t reflect on the scoreboard, but I was pleased with the effort,” he said.
Despite the loss, the Hawks’ season is not over. The Hawks cross over to play the loser of the OUA East final earlier today, the Carleton Ravens, for the bronze medal in the OUA and the final sport at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Final 8 women’s basketball championships. Time is to be determined.
In the only other meeting between the Hawks and Ravens this year, Laurier won 58-49 in Ottawa.
“Carleton’s a tough team and we have to go into their gym. It’s a place that we’ve won already this year, which is a positive, and it’s a team that we match up pretty well with,” Falco said. “It’s a matter of us playing the strong defence that we’ve played the last couple weeks ad make sure we can get some offence going. They’re a tough defensive team, but we’re looking forward to heading to Carleton and taking them down.”
