THUNDER BAY – Jon Kreiner knew getting the second one was going to be tough.
Too tough, it turned out.
A night after the Lakehead Thunderwolves ended a 19-game regular-season losing streak to the Windsor Lancers, the former five-time national champion women’s squad proved they still have plenty of game left, despite hovering near .500 of late.
The Lancers jumped in front by one after the opening quarter on Saturday night, stretched it to seven at the half and as much as 20 in the third quarter and salvaged a weekend split with a 72-58 triumph that laid waste to Lakehead’s eight-game winning streak.
Windsor gave reining OUA most valuable player Leashja Grant all she could handle, holding the Bahamian star to 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Wolves looked lost most of the night, trying to feed the ball to Grant, only to find her blanketed by a swarming Windsor defence that limited her opportunities to find open space under the hoop.
“They did an excellent job taking Leashja out of the ballgame,” Kreiner said. “Leashja seems to have a little mental block playing against (Olivia Osamusali) and has in the past, so we need to get around that. Thankfully some kids stepped up and gave us a battle back.”
Fifth-year guard Karissa Kajorinne was one of the players singled out by Kreiner.
The Thunder Bay native led all scorers with 21 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, when Lakehead managed to close the gap to as little as seven before fading down the stretch.
It was the second time she topped the 20-point barrier this season.
But it couldn’t make up for slow start.
Powered by eight first-quarter points from Kajorinne, the Wolves actually led by six points early in the opening quarter, but a 7-3 run gave the Lancers the lead after 10 minutes.
It’s an all-too-common theme of late, Kajorinne said.
“Our past couple of games, even against Guelph, we’re really digging ourselves a grave and then we’re just clawing our way out of it the best we can. It showed tonight. Sometimes we can let ourselves get down and work through it with lower-seeded teams, not as strong teams,” Kajorinne said.
“But Windsor’s one of those teams you can’t do that. You’re never going to get out of the hole.”
Forward Lily Gruber-Schulz, who came off the bench to score 10 in a relief role, said fatigue played a role in Saturday’s result.
“I think we were a little bit worn out and we just didn’t go for the boards like we did last night. And a team like that, that’s good enough, is going to capitalize on every mistake that you make and they’re going to take advantage of it,” the American-born Gruber-Schulz said.
“We kept on making those mistakes and we weren’t taking advantage of any of theirs.”
She added the No. 8 Wolves will also have to work on putting together a full 40-minute effort, especially heading to Hamilton next weekend for a pair of dates against the fourth-ranked Marauders.
They can’t just turn their effort on and off, Gruber-Schulz said.
“We really put it together in the fourth quarter, but by then it was just too late for us to put the guns on. We’ve got to put together a full game first.”
Eve Uwayesu led the Lancers (8-6) with 17 points. Nikki Ylagan, who hit three of nine three-pointers, had 13 for the Thunderwolves (12-2).
