There couldn’t have been a more perfect opening for the Hawks’ women’s basketball team, as the team stands at 4-0 on the season after dominating the Ottawa Gee-Gees this past Saturday.
Despite being down one of their starting guards, Amber Hills, who is out with a sore back, the Hawks defeated the Gee-Gees 57-38 after upsetting their Friday opponents, the Carleton Ravens, who are ranked seventh in the national standings, by a score of 59-51.
“I was really proud of the girls coming back after a really tough physical game [on Friday] against Carleton,” said Laurier head coach Paul Falco. “To follow that up with another one today was super.”
Laurier dominated out of the starting gate, never trailing the Gee-Gees, who they held to just 27 per cent shooting from the field.
“That was our game plan going into this game — we just wanted to play strong defence and let our offence stem from that,” said Hawks’ fifth-year guard Renata Adamczyk, who led the team’s scoring with 12 points on Saturday after racking up 20 points during Friday’s game.
Falco echoed Adamczyk’s sentiments and said the team’s defence had kept them in games early.
“If we play good defence transition we’re going to have good things offensively and that’s going to help us,” said Falco.
Along with their solid defence, the Hawks also dominated the paint, with Megan Grant and Kimberley Yeldon collecting 12 and 13 rebounds respectively.
With Hillis sitting Saturday’s game out, first-year Felicia Mazerolle was given ample court time, which she capitalized on, scoring nine points.
“I didn’t think I would start, the only reason is because our point guard is injured,” said Mazerolle, “But it’s good to be second to her.”
Regarding Hillis’s injury, Falco was unsure of when she will return to the court with her teammates.
“She’s got a sore back and it’s been coming along but it’s been slow. She’s in good hands with our physio people but it’s something we’re going to be cautious about.”
In the meantime, the Hawks are on the road to Sudbury to play against Laurentian next Friday, looking to improve upon their already solid performances.
“The girls are pretty excited, we’re just going to keep going,” concluded Adamczyk.
