Upset special

Jon Kreiner called it one of the top three wins of his basketball coaching career.

With less than 30 seconds to go, trailing by one for just the second time all game, Ayse Kalkan stepped to the line, buried two foul shots and the Lakehead Thunderwolves hung on to beat the No. 8-ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues 64-61 on Friday night.

"I was very nervous, as you could tell with my jumping up and down, but I made it and it was exciting," said Kalkan, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Lindsay Druery, who suffered through a terrible 1-for-8 first-half shooting performance, iced it with a pair of free throws of her own, though not before Jill Stratton had the growing Thunderdome crowd holding its collective breath, her buzzer-beating three-point attempt bouncing off the front of the rim, the comeback denied.

"This is a very good team, better than the team that went to nationals last year, in my mind," Kreiner said.

"They've been playing fantastic. We've been a little inconsistent. I was really proud of Ayse tonight. She was unbelievable. Not only did she have five assists and two turnovers, which is unreal, and her rebounding and scoring, she also defended one of the top players in our entire conference and made her work for all of her shots tonight.

Down the stretch, having built a pair of six-point leads in the fourth quarter, the Wolves were faced with an aggressive Toronto defence that cornered them anytime they tried to inbound the ball, a style of play that led to Varsity Blues points in a hurry.

Stratton closed the gap to three on a free-throw and a giveaway underneath, then was fouled going to the net and fouled, completing the three-point play to tie the score.

Sherri Pierce went to the line, with the Wolves in the penalty, and after an over-zealous scorer sounded the substitution buzzer as she let loose with her first shot, the officials counted the basket, despite the miss. Pierce hit her second shot to give the Varsity Blues a two-point advantage with time running out.

Kalkan said at that point they did what they had to to get it done.

"I feel like we stayed composed and at the end of the game we put in those foul shots that we've been working on in practice and it benefited us in the end," she said.

"It was definitely an exciting game, but I think we came prepared as a team and we worked as a team and moved the ball around. When it came down to it we did what coach told us to do and we executed." It was the Wolves who took the pressure to the Varsity Blues in the opening half.

Lacey McNulty scored from underneath in the first 15 seconds, and by the time Kalkan netted her second basket of the quarter, LU had built an 8-0 lead.

They pushed it to 17-6 at quarter's end, when Kelsey Bardsley connected at the buzzer.

It was a different story in the second as the Wolves hot shooting from the first 10 minutes cooled considerably.

Orangeville, Ont.'s Alicia Van Kampen and Niagara Falls's Amanda Lauzon twice pulled the Varsity Blues to within five with two minutes to go in the half, but each time Kalkan had the answer, restoring a seven-point Thunderwolves lead after 20 minutes.
Toronto kept the pressure on in the third, ultimately taking the lead 28-27 after a 6-0 run to start the period.

But Lindsay Druery, who had a terrible 1-for-8 shooting experience in the first half and Lacey McNulty were there to rescue the inexperienced Wolves. Druery helped the Wolves regain the lead on their next possession, and McNulty broke a 41-41 tie in the final minute, burying a three.

She was at it again as Lakehead opened the fourth on a 5-0, run, hitting a three from the top of the key to extend LU's lead to 49-41.

The Wolves, who committed 30 turnover in the victory, host Ryerson on Saturday night. Game time is 6 p.m.