THUNDER BAY – The McMaster Marauders didn’t really have an answer for Leashja Grant on Saturday night.
That’s OK, the officiating staff took care of her for them.
Grant picked up four quick fouls on in the fourth quarter and was sent to the sidelines early after fouling out, and with her went any chance of the Lakehead Thunderwolves mounting a final-frame comeback against their No. 6-ranked opponent.
Grant finished with 23 points and 19 rebounds in just 26 minutes of court time.
Her coach, Jon Kreiner, said he’s not sure what led to all the fouls in the fourth quarter of what proved to be a 67-57 defeat, disagreeing with several of the calls.
“Obviously I can’t say what I’m thinking and I’m feeling right now,” Kreiner said. “I’m not happy that our best player, one of the best players in the country goes into the fourth quarter with one foul and ends up fouling out of the game.”
At least two of the fouls were questionable at best, including a charge on a one-on-one drive to the basket and the fifth and final call away from the ball.
“I’m going to take a look at the situation and see if there’s something we can do to try to improve. Maybe we need to improve something? Maybe I’m not seeing what (the officials) are seeing? But at the same time, maybe we all need to improve a little bit.”
Grant was tossed with 3:41 to play, the Wolves trailing 63-55 at the time, so it’s not as if Lakehead was in the driver’s seat.
While her departure all but ruled out a surprise ending, it was the Thunderwolves inability to find the range from beyond the arc that really cost them a shot at avoiding a four-game losing streak.
Bridget O’Reilly and Nikki Ylagan combined to go just 2-for-18 from long distance, the team only connecting on four of 25 attempts.
The team has been struggling of late from long distance, worrisome for Kreiner.
“We should have had more of a chance in that game,” he said.
Forward Lily Gruber-Schulz, who had 11 points and three rebounds, said it was a tough way to lose.
“I think we came out strong, but we went with ups and downs so it was hard to stay focused for 40 minutes, which we talked about before the game,” she said.
The Wolves held tough through 20 minutes, trailing 33-31 of a first half that saw the lead change hands seven times, McMaster jumping in front 18-16 on a Lexie Spadafora bucket.
Grant tied the game 37-37 early in the fourth, but the Marauders (16-4) took the lead for good thanks to some pressure defence that led to a pair of steals and back-to-back buckets by Hilary Hanaka, whose 12 points tied Olivia Wilson for the team lead.
After Jerika Baldin landed a three to close the gap to two, the Marauders went on a 7-1 run to extend their lead to eight, the advantage they’d take into the fourth.
The Wolves (12-8) hit the road next weekend to take on Brock for a pair.
Beyond the arc: The Thunderwolves wore pink uniforms in support of breast cancer research.
