LU's Jylisa Williams scores 44, delivers holiday championship

HALIFAX -- Jylisa Williams has done it again.

The Atlanta native topped her own school record on Tuesday, scoring 44 points to earn the Lakehead Thunderwolves an 83-73 win over OUA rival Ottawa in the championship game at the Thunder Selects Holiday Classic at Halifax’s Homburg Centre.

Williams, named the tournament’s outstanding player, also hauled in 18 rebounds in a game that saw the Thunderwolves trail just once, a 38-37 deficit in the final seconds of the opening half.

Earlier this season Williams set a new Lakehead single-game record, dropping 42 points on the nationally ranked Queen’s Golden Gaels.

“It was a team win,” said Williams, preferring to deflect any praise of her efforts to her Thunderwolves teammates.

“At times I needed to step up and I did, but we wanted to win the championship. Coach put the ball in my hands at important times like that and I stepped up and did it.”

Colour coach Jon Kreiner impressed.

“Jylisa actually just played outside herself tonight doing what she did because Ottawa’s one of the top teams taking top players out,” Kreiner said.

Williams outdid herself in Halifax, finishing the three-game tournament with an even 100 points, topping her 30-point-a-game season average with a cool 33.3 points per contest as the Wolves rolled through the competition to raise the banner.

She was at her level best in the fourth, when the Gee Gees tried to mount a charge, pulling to within three points after a Julia Soriano trey midway through the period.

Williams took matters into her own hands, driving through the Ottawa defence, scoring the improbable hoop and drawing the foul.

Fifth-year guard Katie Ulakovic stole the ball on Ottawa’s subsequent possession, and fed Williams who drove the rim again and connected.

Another steal and this time it was tournament all-star Corina Bruni, who completed a nifty three-way passing play to stretch the Lakehead lead to 10.

It swung the game, Williams said.

“That was key,” she said. “Katie had a huge steal and we had to scrap it out because we knew they would bring everything they had the last few minutes. We were basically trying to build the lead up so we didn’t have to rush the last few minutes of the game.”

Ottawa showed they too could score in bunches at the end of the second quarter, erasing a 13-point deficit after the first to take a one-point lead on a Kellie Ring basket. But Williams fired back with a buzzer-beater to regain a one-point advantage heading into the half.

The two teams played back-and-forth ball in the third, with the Thunderwolves pulling away late, going up 10 on Bridget O’Reilly’s third three-pointer of the contest. O’Reilly, LU's player of the game, finished with 11, the only other Lakehead player to reach double digits.

Jennifer Crowe led Ottawa (5-3) with 15 points. Julia Soriano and Krista van Slingerland had 14 apiece, while Ring matched Williams with 18 rebounds.

Beyond the arc: Tasia McKenna, Lakehead’s all-time leading women’s basketball scorer, is now an assistant with No. 4 Saint Mary’s, who hosted the Thunder Selects Holiday Classic … The Wolves (4-3) will open second-half OUA play on Jan. 9 at home against Brock.