Even though they got the split on the road, Lindsay Druery says her squad looked a little rusty last weekend.
Druery, a fifth-year forward with Lakehead University’s women’s basketball team, expects it will only get tougher from here on in as they team seeks a return to the OUA playoffs.
The Wolves make their home-court debut on Friday night against Toronto, and follow it up with the always tough Ryerson Rams on Saturday.
A repeat of their season-opening performances won’t get them too many wins going forward, Druery said.
“We had a little bit of a rough weekend, so we’re looking to regroup right now and get ready to go,” she said.
“It is good we got the split, but we’re just looking to recover after a long pre-season a little faster and learn from our mistakes a little quicker and hopefully pull away with a few more victories right now, because it isn’t going to get any easier after Christmas when we have to start playing the West Division.”
There’s no doubt the 2011-12 edition of the Wolves is a team in search of an identity.
Last year the Wolves were undeniably Tasia McKenna’s team. But as it’s been said many times leading up to the start of OUA play, the school’s all-time leading scorer, McKenna graduated, relegated to helping in practice in her new role as assistant coach.
To make matters worse, all-rookie star Darcy Zinck went down with a season-ending injury in pre-season, creating a huge hole in LU’s plans for the post-McKenna era. Adding to the turnover ratio were Emily Ross and Corina Bruni, both of whom left school with eligibility remaining.
While Jon Kreiner isn’t willing to call it a rebuilding year, the veteran coach admits he’s got to tinker with the team’s playbook to adjust to what he’s got on the court.
Kreiner has brought in plenty of new faces, several of whom are already making an impact, including former St. Ignatius star Carolyn Fragale, who spent three years at Algoma University before returning to her hometown team.
Fragale had 15 points in LU’s win over RMC last Saturday and is just outside the OUA top 20 in scoring. British import Kelsey Bardsley, essentially a walk-on, put up 11 in Friday’s loss to Queens.
Forward Lacey McNulty said it’s clearly a different team than they’ve had in the past, something she and her teammates, new and old, are working to adjust to in the early portion of the season, looking to define the type of team they’ll eventually be.
“We’re struggling in different areas, where we weren’t struggling last year. So we’re just trying to piece everything together, trying to get all the pieces of our puzzle to actually fit together in the season properly. But it’s still easy in the season and I’m sure we’ll be fine,” said McNulty, who with Druery has combined to average 15 rebounds a night so far and said she’s starting to get her step back in her game, after going down last season with a torn Achilles.
The Wolves take on Toronto on Friday night at the Thunderdome and Ryerson on Saturday night. Game times both nights are 6 p.m.
