Down, not out

These days, the Washington Generals have a better chance of beating the Harlem Globetrotters than anyone in the OUA does in taking down the No. 1 Windsor Lancers.

For three quarters Saturday night, the Lakehead Thunderwolves had thoughts of an upset in their minds. But while the Lancers pulled away in the fourth, churning out an 81-57 win, their 35th straight in OUA regular-season play, the loss gave the hometown Wolves some pause for thought.

A game up on the Guelph Gryphons for the sixth and final post-season berth in the OUA West, it was the boost in confidence they needed as they look ahead to next weekend’s visit to McMaster.

They know in all likelihood they’ll need to secure at least a split, Guelph holding the tiebreaker and facing off against winless Waterloo in one of their two remaining starts.

Thunder Bay native Carolyn Fragale, playing her final regular season home game in a Thunderwolves uniform, said it may have been a loss in the standings, the teams ninth in its past 11th outings, but in many ways it felt like a win.

“I’m very proud of how we played. Coming into the game all I asked was one thing for my last game and home and that was for everyone to work hard,” said Fragale, who finished with 13 points. “And we did work hard and I think that will give us (confidence) going into McMaster next weekend.”

The game itself was lost on the boards. The Lancers (19-0) doubled up the Thunderwolves in the all-important category, 44-22. Fourteen came on the offensive glass.

“We know we’re not the biggest team and we know we’re not the most aggressive team and we have to help our posts out and our guards need to come down and rebound.”

One-time walk-on Jessica Clemencon did much of the damage for No.1-ranked Windsor, scoring 22 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Seven of the points came in a 29-point first quarter, five fewer than the Thunderwolves surrendered the night before.

The Lancers extended their lead to 15 in the fourth before Lakehead started to rein things in, a Lindsay Inkila three-pointer pulling Lakehead to within 9, 44-35, at the half.

As late as the final two minutes of the third, thanks to a strong performance by Ashley Randall in the post, the Wolves remained within 10 points of the lead, but Laura Mullins put an end to any thoughts of an upset, hitting a basket and four straight free throws to give Windsor a 64-46 edge heading home.

For Fragale, it’s a night she’ll never forget.

“It was a very emotional night. Coming into tonight I knew it was going to be so I prepared myself. That would go down in my books as one of the best feelings, having everyone standing behind me, my parents looking so proud of me.”

Coach Jon Kreiner said there was a lot to like, despite the result and their struggles to score.

“We found a way to play against the No. 1 team in the country. That’s going to help us to compete and go after two wins against McMaster,” Kreiner said. “That has to be our mindset. We can’t just think we need one win to make the playoffs. Or not even talking about playoffs. We’re going to Mac to win two games.”

Beyond the arc: Both rookie Jessica de Haan and Randall fouled out in the first two minutes of the fourth, leaving the Wolves without a lot of their size down low … Kelsey Bardsley and Ashley Randall finished with 11 points and Ayse Kalkan had 10, the only other Lakehead players in double digits ... Kalkan had her fingers taped after injuring them during the game.