THUNDER BAY -- Jon Kreiner says he believes if his Lakehead Thunderwolves could have hung on against the Ryerson Rams in pre-season play, the women’s basketball team might have been nationally ranked to start the season.
Ahead by five with five minutes to go, alas the Wolves couldn’t hold back the hard-charging Rams and had to settle instead for a more-than-respectable 6-3 exhibition mark.
Not bad, said Kreiner, given the level of competition they faced.
On Friday they’ll put their hard work to the test, and this time it counts, when the eighth-ranked Queen’s Golden Gaels invade the Thunderdome to launch the 2014-15 OUA basketball campaign.
Kreiner said he thinks the players are ready to prove they belong in the ranking conversation themselves.
“I think we’re very close,” said Kreiner, adding he’d like to see the team’s outside game improve, after hitting just six of 45 three-point shots over their final three pre-season contests.
“I think if we can start gelling a little more offensively and continue to move the ball and continue to buy into the things we’ve been working on offensively and score a few more points, I think our defence is going to hold us in against any opponent that we play. It’s a wide-open league, especially our division.”
Over the summer the OUA revamped its divisions, slotting the Thunderwolves in alongside McMaster, Guelph and Brock.
It won’t be an easy road to haul, he said.
“All the coaches right now are saying it’s the toughest in the country,” Kreiner said.
It’s just another challenge, said star guard Jylisa Williams, entering her second and final year of eligibility with the Thunderwolves.
Named the team’s player of the month for October, Williams said the pre-season and what she accomplished is in the past.
“My main focus starts Friday, when the regular season starts against a really good Queen’s team,” the Atlanta native said.
“Our pre-season was definitely a great practice for our regular season. We had some great games that really prepared us for what we should expect for this year,” Williams said.
“Ryerson was definitely one. It was a playoff atmosphere. We were in it until the last two minutes and it definitely showed us what we need to work on for the rest of the season.”
The team is returning nine players from last year’s squad, with four new faces and one familiar returnee, former Thunderwolves guard Corina Bruni, back for a final OUA campaign. New faces include guards Kylee Kuchta and Mozanga Ekwalanga and forwards August Rickets and Bridget O’Reilly.
Fourth-year forward Essa Jacobsen says she likes a lot of what she’s seen to date.
“Our transition offence is improving. I think our defence is really the key to our success as a team,” the Grand Marais, Minn. native said.
“On offence, our half-court is struggling, but I think that will come with practice and ball movement.”
Tip-off Friday night is at 6 p.m. The Thunderwolves will take on the York Lions at home on Saturday night.
