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Thunderwolves women work paint to push past Voyageurs

The Lakehead Thunderwolves are suddenly red-hot. Their winning ways continued on Saturday night, going wire-to-wire to dispatch of the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs 81-73, capturing their third straight home-court victory to find their way back to .
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Jerika Baldin moves to the hoop against Laurentian's Mackenzie Robinson (left) on Saturday night at the Thunderdome. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

The Lakehead Thunderwolves are suddenly red-hot.

Their winning ways continued on Saturday night, going wire-to-wire to dispatch of the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs 81-73, capturing their third straight home-court victory to find their way back to .500 on the season at 3-3.

And it was their inside presence that got the job done.

Centre Gillian Lavoie owned the paint against the Voyageurs, scoring a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

“We were definitely looking to attack the basket and then it was me trying to figure out a way to get open, pretty much,” the Thunder Bay native said.

“It’s all about dribbling to the basket, pretty much.”

Going inside was a calculated move by the Thunderwolves, who relied on the long ball a night earlier to defeat the Nipissing Lakers.

“We were both trying to do the same thing, penetrate and then pitch out to our shooters. We love to do that. But we said today on the pitchouts, we have to find ways to get the ball inside,” said coach Jon Kreiner.

It’s a good thing.

Lakehead only hit three three-pointers in 15 attempts, ceding the deep threat to the Voyageurs, who dropped 15 from beyond the arc, pulling to within six in the fourth quarter after being down by as much as 20 in the third.

“Our shooters needed to be disciplined tonight. They weren’t dropping like they were last night. Yeah, they hit threes, but we got the ball inside,” Kreiner said.
It was a good night all around for the LU offence, who topped the 80-point mark for the second straight contest and opened the game on a 13-0 run.
Bridget O’Reilly, who nailed all three three-pointers for the home side, finished with 16 and Katelyn Zen, who also worked the ball low, had 15.
They can thank point-guard Jerika Baldin for getting them the ball.

Baldin, who leads the nation with 7.7 assists per game, had nine points and nine helpers.

Her generosity on the court knows no bounds.

“I think that’s what a true point guard does, feed people the ball,” the Brantford, Ont. native said.

“Their defence was not very good at recovering, so we just had to find the open player.”

Speaking of recovery, after an 0-3 start, the Wolves find themselves in the thick of the OUA Central Division, tied with Brock with three wins. They’ll travel to St. Catharines to take on the Badgers next weekend.

“We started bring back our transition game and our press and really started defending (our opponents) and we’re running the floor and getting easy baskets.”

Emily Tinnes paced the Voyageurs with 17. Adrienne Moreau and Danielle Harris had 16 apiece. Laurentian lost Adriane Bruni to an ankle injury in the first half.

Lakehead closes out the first half against the Badgers. Their next home game is Jan. 29 when McMaster visits the Thunderdome.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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