THUNDER BAY -- Gillian Lavoie knows the Lakehead Thunderwolves might have let one get away.
She also knows it’s the wrong time of the season
The Wolves, in the thick of a OUA women’s basketball playoff hunt, on Friday night couldn’t find an answer to stop Brock’s tandem of Kira Cornelissen and Melissa Tatti when it mattered most
Outscored 29-19 in the fourth, Lakehead went down to a 92-84 defeat against the Brock Badgers. Cornelissen, who did not play in the opening quarter, freeing Lavoie to score 14 of her 22 points as the Wolves took a 24-14 lead, made up for lost time in the final 30 minutes, scoring a game-high 28 points to pace the visiting Badgers
Tatti was 5-for-7 from the field and made 10 of 11 free throws for 23 points.
Stop one, the other had the answer, Lavoie said.
Add in a series of miscues without the ball and it all added up to a critical loss, she added.
“It was our little decisions on defence, not knowing where our players were,” Lavoie said. “We played like we did in the first quarter, thinking that everyone was the same. But (Cornelisson) is a very big difference than their guards and we didn’t change our playing.”
With the loss Lakehead fell to 3-7 on the season, while the Badgers improved to 4-5.
Coach Jon Kreiner had nothing but praise for the offence, despite going a combined 5-for-23 from beyond the arc and hitting just 43 per cent of their shots from the field.
It was the defence that needed to pick up, he said.
“Our help D wasn’t there for Gillian,” Kreiner said. “I thought we left her out to dry a little bit and allowed to go one-on-one with Gillian. And then Tatti was getting layups and no one was there to help. Right now Tatti has been struggling. Her confidence is low and tonight we just lifted her confidence.”
It was anyone’s game through three quarters, the Wolves clinging to a 65-63 lead.
By definition it was a back-and-forth contest, with eight lead changes in the second quarter, 11 in the third and four more in the decisive fourth.
Lavoie made the most of the absent Cornelisson in the first, owning the paint for the first 10 minutes of the contest, a performance the Thunderwolves sorely needed with November player of the month August Ricketts sidelined with an injury and expected to miss both tilts this weekend against the Badgers. Also out was veteran guard Cassandra Soulias.
“I’ve had halves like that,” said Lavoie, who completed the double-double with 11 boards. “My teammates realized they had smaller guards and we capitalized on the fact I was a lot taller than all of them.”
Bridget O’Reilly had 16 for Lakehead, Rachel Webber chipping in 14 and Katelyn Zen 11.
Despite the sub-.500 record, the Thunderwolves are eighth in the OUA's ratings percentage index standings. The top 12 make the playoffs.
The two teams tangle again on Saturday night at 6 p.m. at the Thunderdome.
