Streaky success

 Lacey McNulty wasn’t about to let this one get away.

With her team struggling to score once again the second quarter, the first year Lakehead Thunderwolves pivot took matters into her own hands, scoring nine points in the final three minutes, stretching the LU lead to 13 in what would wind up to be a 55-45 Lakehead win.

McNulty, who struggled with her shooting game on Friday, a trend that continued in the early stages of Saturday’s contest, said when her coach, Jon Kreiner called a second quarter timeout to read them the riot act about not scoring, she took it upon herself to get the job done.

“I try not to let my last shot affect my next shot. I kind of did for a little bit. But I told myself let it go, come back out and then make the next one,” she said.

“I hit the long jumper and got a little more confidence and tried to pick my team up a little bit and get going.”

Kreiner was pleased the message got across loud and clear.

“Yeah, Lacey stepped up in the second quarter. She dominated out there. And she was the one who really needed to step up most. She played a little soft yesterday and allowed the physicality to affect her. I thought she found her space and rhythm and she needed that.”

Those conferences proved useful and effective against the Golden Hawks, one of the top defensive squads in the OUA.

The Wolves managed to open a 20-point lead, going up 43-20 in the third quarter, but it’s a game of spurts and the Golden Hawks rolled off a good one before the period was out, closing the gap to 12.

By the time Thunder Bay’s Megan Grant and Amber Hillis put up a pair of points each, sandwiched between two near misses underneath by Lakehead’s Lindsay Druery, the Wolves were only ahead by six and it looked like it might be getting away.

That’s when the players got together and said enough’s enough, McNulty said.

“We had a little huddle in the middle of the court. We just said, ‘Don’t give up a 20-point lead and end up losing this game. Keep fighting and don’t let them come back all the way. We just fought back and kept scoring,” she said.

Halifax’s Darcy Zinck put an end to the slide, draining a three-pointer to return the lead to nine.

The lead was never less than seven from there on in.

The Wolves also managed to hold Laurier’s leading scorer, fifth-year guard Renata Adamczyk, in check, surrendering just three points to the former OUA all-star. She averages 12.8 a night.

Grant, who tied Hillis with a team-high 10 points said the Wolves shooting was perceptibly better in the second matchup, which proved to be the difference.

“They were hitting some shots that they weren’t hitting last game, and we were just missing some shots,” said Grant, a Hammarskjold graduate who in her final season with the Golden Hawks was likely playing for the last time in front of her hometown fans.

“It feels good to know we wouldn’t give up, but obviously we wanted the win, which we didn’t get tonight.”

The Wolves (8-4) outscored the Hawks (9-3) in earning the split, outgunning them 106-103, which gives them the first tiebreaker should the two teams finish deadlocked in the standings.