THUNDER BAY – A turnover fueled 33-point quarter was just the start Sofia Lluch and the Lakehead Thunderwolves were looking for on Friday night.
Buoyed by Lluch's 24-point effort and an already shorthanded Laurentian Voyageurs team that lost Danielle Reid to injury early in the first and three more players to the five-foul limit in the second half, the Wolves went on to down their opponent 85-72 at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
It was just the fourth win of the season for Lakehead (4-11), facing essentially a must-win scenario the rest of the way, with 11 of the 12 OUA women's basketball playoff spots all but spoken for.
It was a huge win, said Lluch,whose point total was a season high, the fifth straight game she's hit double digits, helping the Thunderwolves win two of their last three as they make their last-ditch post-season push.
“Definitely these two weeks, especially, is our season. It's like our playoffs right now,” said the second-year guard.
“It was an important win, but now we have to focus on tomorrow and next week.”
Lluch, who hails from Spain, said the first quarter was an amazing team effort.
“We were just going with the flow, getting up shots and we were going well. We were playing as a team. It was really good to see,” she said.
It was the kind of effort coach Jon Kreiner has been looking for from Lluch all season. It's all starting to come together, said Kreiner, in his 17th season behind the Lakehead bench.
When the Wolves needed a bucket, undoubtedly it was Lluch who answered the call against the Voyageurs, a 2-12 club missing fourth-year guard Kayla Deschatelets to injury.
“She's been doing that since York and she's just playing with confidence. She still struggles a bit with young-player mistakes, but generally speaking her decision-making ability is getting better. She's looking to shoot that mid-range pull-up and that's been really big for her,” Kreiner said.
“She's got so much skill. She's one of the most skilled players in the OUA. She just needs to learn to apply that under different situations.”
If it wasn't Lluch pulling the trigger for the host Thunderwolves, it was veteran guard Nikki Ylagan, who hit four three-pointers and finsihed with 16 points.
Ylagan said the team's energy was really high, coming off a weekend split on the road last weekend.
It couldn't have come at a better time.
“It's really important and it gives us a lot of confidence, considering the first semester wasn't too good. These wins that we're picking up are really giving us the momentum to move forward in the season.”
The Voyageurs, led by Helena Lamoureux's 24-point, 11-rebound effort, couldn't buy a break – or a call it seemed – though the two teams combined for 59 fouls.
Maria La Rosa was the first to foul out, picking up her fifth penalty in the final minute of the third. Bailey Tabin, who collected all seven of her points in the third, got the boot with 6:29 to go in the fourth and half a minute later Zoe Hutchins departed, the Voyageurs forced to play 4-on-5 the rest of the night. Laurentian outscored the Thunderwolves 16-12 the rest of the way.
Lakehead hosts Nipssing on Saturday night at the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
Court shots: First-year guard Kaylah Lewis tore her ACL in practice and is out for the season. It's her second torn ACL.
