Lakehead (13-9) finishes in the three-way tie with McMaster and Brock for third in the division but settles into the third seed having won the head-to-head points tiebreaker.
Senior point guard Tasia McKenna erupted for 21 points on 8-15 shooting with five 3-pointers to lead the charge while junior post Lindsay Druery notched another double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Emily Ross of Thunder Bay had a strong effort with 15 points.
Chiaki Nakamura shot 5-7 en route to 13 points while fifth-year senior post Shannon Vellinga celebrated senior’s night with 13 points of her own in her final regular season game in an LU uniform.
Western got 15 points from Amanda Anderson while Lauren Parker and Rebecca Moss also reached double figures with 13 points and 10 points, respectively.
"We came out with energy tonight,” said coach Kreiner. “Emily Ross and Tasia started us off and the team stepped up to its best win of the season. Chiaki played terrific off the bench and Shannon played huge for us with 13 points in 18 minutes off the bench.
Overall it was our focus and intensity we came out with. All you have to do is look at the stats and it tells the tale. We dominated the boards and to us, that was our key going into the game. Tasia McKenna stepped up and showed why she is one of the top point guards in the country. She was unbelieveable and the whole team followed her lead. We are very excited to finish third and host our playoff game Wednesday against Laurier.”
The Thunderwolves decimated the Mustangs 47-21 in the rebounding department; 13-4 on the offensive end. Shooting was not a problem for LU as they were 33-76 from the field and a sizzling 9-16 from beyond the arc. Western went 19-62 and 6-20 from three-point land.
Lakehead’s
Wednesday night playoff matchup against Laurier is a rematch of last year’s OUA
quarterfinals in which the Wolves succumbed to the Hawks 62-58. Tickets will
be available on Monday at noon at the Fieldhouse reception desk, the
LUSU office and the residence life coordinator. Tip-off goes at 7 p.m.
