Badger women edge LU by six

The Lakehead women’s basketball team’s alone time at third in the OUA West was short lived as they lost 68-62 to the Brock Badgers, Saturday night at St. Catharines, Ontario. With the loss Lakehead (12-8) splits their weekend road series and drops back into a three-way tie with Brock and McMaster for third in the division.

Point guard Tasia McKenna led the Pack with 17 points and seven rebounds with senior forward Sarah Gordon contributing 12 points and eight rebounds. Freshman point guard Corina Bruni had a dynamic game with six points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals with no turnovers.

The hosts were paced by Hillary Woodside and Lauren Stewart who had 14 and 12 points, respectively.

With an ankle injury sidelining starting post Lindsay Druery, Lakehead struggled early and trailed 40-21 at halftime. Behind an improved defensive effort and contributions from subs including Chelsea Nekuliak and Lisa Styles the ‘Wolves pulled within one point with less than two minutes remaining but Brock recovered in the waning moments of the contest to escape with the win.

"I was very disappointed with the way our team came out tonight,” said Thunderwolves coach Jon Kreiner.

“We lacked the competitiveness and mental toughness needed to be success in the playoffs. In the second half we started some players who showed some fight. Chelsea played great defence with four steals and Sarah had 20 minutes and played well for us. Corina stepped up big and showed some great fight. Lisa Styles has continued to play at a high level and I was pleased with Shannon Vellinga’s effort in the second half after struggling early. Overall I was proud of three of our four halves of basketball this weekend and I'm excited for our games next weekend against Western.”

Those season-closing games with the Mustangs will take place next Friday and Saturday at the C. J. Sanders Fieldhouse. Tip-off goes at 6 p.m.