THUNDER BAY – Jon Kreiner thinks the Carleton Ravens are the No. 1 women’s basketball team in the nation.
He might be right.
The No. 4 Ravens stormed into the Thunderdome on Friday night and threatened to utterly dismantle the Lakehead Thunderwolves, racing out to a 23-9 lead after one.
They’d go on to win 80-67, but the outcome was anything but a given thanks to a heroic performance by LU’s Leashja Grant.
The NCAA transfer torched the Ravens for 28 points and 15 rebounds, despite missing huge chunks of the third and fourth quarter nursing an ankle injury.
“It was a big statement tonight,” Grant said.
“We just wanted to hang in with them. We just wanted to let them know and make a big statement that it wasn’t going to be an easy game.”
How important is Grant to the Thunderwolves?
Take the first quarter as a shining example. The OUA's leading scorer and rebounder put up LU’s first seven points, before heading to the bench for a quick rest, her team down 8-7.
The Ravens swooped in and ran off 10 straight points to push the lead to 18-7, adding another bucket before Lakehead guard Rachel Webber ended the streak with a steal and a bucket.
After going down in the third and being helped off by her teammates, Grant made a heroic return three minutes into the fourth, promptly scoring a pair of baskets to cut the Carleton lead to 67-60 with 4:15 to play.
“Leashja, there’s not a lot of words to describe her as a player,” said Webber, who scored six points and collected five steals for the Thunderwolves.
“She’s unreal and she brings another level to our team. When she went down, most teams it would hurt them and they’d stop playing. But we wanted to win for her, regardless if she came back or not. We wanted to keep working hard for her and then she was able to suck it up and keep playing. That was good for us.”
Lakehead coach Jon Kreiner admitted it was a scary moment when Grant went down.
“Leashja came to play tonight. She was great and it was a little scary there. She seems to be OK. I know she tweaked her ankle last night, so it’s part of that. But I think she’ll be good,” said Kreiner, whose 5-2 team is still looking for respect outside the Thunderdome.
“One of the things about Leashja is she has a tremendous amount of pride. She knows what this game means win or lose. She wanted to play against the best, so she found a way to get ready and we fed on that energy. But our team, when she went out, I’m just super proud of how we actually stayed right there and competed and kept that margin the same.”
Despite the double-digit loss, Webber said their effort showed the rest of the league the Thunderwolves won’t lay down for any team.
“As soon as we fine-tune the little problems we have in our defence, we’ll be able to beat those teams, not just come close to them anymore. I believe in our team.”
Nikki Ylagan added 13 for Lakehead. Elizabeth Leblanc topped the 8-0 Ravens with 16 points, one of four Carleton players to reach double-digits.
Lakehead takes on Ottawa on Saturday night at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
