WBB: Williams scores 42 to lead Lakehead to win over Western

The test will only get tougher going forward for the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

But if Jylisa Williams can keep putting up 40-plus points, it’ll make the task a little easier.

Williams, the odds-on-favourite to capture OUA player-of-the-year honours, scored 42 points in her final game at the Thunderdome, leading the Wolves to a 71-54 win over the Western Mustangs in their playoff opener.

The Atlanta native had 20 at the half and added a heroic 16 points in the third quarter as Lakehead, the No. 5 seed, pulled away for good from a pesky Western squad, who in the early going played like anything but the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the post-season.

It’s the first step in what Williams and her teammates hope is a long journey, culminating in an appearance at nationals.

“We were upset about our loss (last weekend) against Guelph, so we knew we had to move to the next page,” said Williams, who will lead the Wolves into Round 2 on the road Saturday afternoon against the McMaster Marauders, a team LU split with in Hamilton during regular-season play.

“This win was very important for us, because if we didn’t win, we were going to go home. You have to leave everything on the line each playoff game because it’s win or go home.”

Unlike the games in Guelph, Williams stayed out of foul trouble, collecting only two all night before exiting late in the fourth, the game well in hand.

Williams said she was ready for anything the Mustangs threw at her.

“I thought it was going to be a little rougher than it was today,” said Williams, who battled a groin injury all week and sat out practice on Monday and Tuesday to rest.

“I’m just ready for the switches. I know that different teams are going to throw different types of defences at me. It’s not just going to be one set defence,” she said.

The game was also a test for forward Essa Jacobsen, who suffered a quad injury last weekend and was a game-time decision.

The Grand Marais-born Jacobsen sat out the first half, but joined the fray in the second, the Wolves only able to carry a seven-point, 37-30 advantage into the half.

“Today is the best I felt all week. It’s playoff time, you have to be ready to play,” Jacobsen said.

Finishing with five points and 10 rebounds in just 14 minutes of court time, she said the team knows the situation they’re facing.

“I say it’s the first win of our new season,” Jacobsen said. “We have three games to get to the championship, so it’s the first win of the three of them.”

LU coach Jon Kreiner called it a good first step.

“Now we get to go to McMaster and go where we got beat last year in a situation where we weren’t quite ready,” Kreiner said. “We have confidence going in there. We beat them by 15. We did lose the second game by four, but came back from a 17-point deficit.\

“I do want to give Western full credit. I think in a game where it could have really collapsed quickly for them, they made a nice battle, a nice fight. We had to get Essa out there.”

Lakehead guard Corina Bruni came down hard on her ankle early in the fourth and did not return, but Kreiner said she’ll be good to go on Saturday.