THUNDER BAY – For 35 minutes it had the markings of an upset-in-the-making.
But the sixth-ranked Queen’s Gaels on Friday night were just good enough to put away a surprisingly pesky Lakehead Thunderwolves squad and remained undefeated on the season, improving to 5-0 in OUA women’s basketball play with a 68-61 road triumph.
Despite the seven-point loss, it was a good sign the Wolves were able to stay within striking distance most of the night against one of the top 10 teams in the country, said second-year guard Rachel Webber, whose team nevertheless fell to 1-5.
“Our team has been working our butts off day and night,” said Webber, who collected nine points and grabbed eight rebounds in her return to the lineup after missing about three weeks because of injury.
“We’ve competed against all the No. 1 teams, like McMaster and everybody, so our team is really tight right now. We’re going to find a way to win those No. 1 teams at this point.”
Rookie forward Lily Gruber-Schulz, a contingent of family and friends in from her hometown of Grand Marais, Minn., said the Wolves are starting to feel a little more comfortable on the court.
“I think before we were kind of panicked and we didn’t really know what we were doing. We weren’t exactly gelling together,” said Gruber-Schulz, who finished with seven points coming off the bench, including a quick five-point stretch late in the third that pulled the home-court favourites within four points, the Gaels leading 48-44.
“I think we’ve come together a lot more and we’re playing together as a team better.”
The game was there for the taking in the fourth, up for grabs for either side.
It was veteran Bridget O’Reilly who keyed the Wolves comeback. A steal and a hoop three minutes into the fourth pulled Lakehead within four, then a possession later she pulled up and drained a three-pointer, Queens clinging to a 54-52 advantage.
But sloppy play led to a pair of turnovers and the Gaels raced ahead by nine, Marianne Alarie’s three-pointer essentially putting it away for Queen’s, to the dismay of the Thunderdome crowd.
Alarie would finish with a game-high 22.
Lakehead coach Jon Kreiner was mostly pleased with his team’s effort, but he would have liked to have seen a higher shooting percentage, especially from beyond the arc, where the Wolves were just 2-for-21 on the night.
“They really pressured our players and didn’t allow the ball to be moved as much as we wanted it to tonight,” Kreiner said. “When the ball moved and we got the ball inside Auggie (Ricketts) was dominant and Daron (Mainville) did some good things.
“I don’t think of those 21 threes we took we had many quality ones.”
Ricketts led the Wolves with a dozen points, while Katelyn Zen added 11. Abby Dixon had 14 for Queen’s, one of four players in double digits.
The Wolves take on York on Saturday night to wrap up first-half play. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
