Wolves trounced

Carolyn Fragale is chalking it up to mental fatigue.

She’s hoping they can recover by Saturday. The basketball Wolves, who on Friday were trounced 77-52 at the CIS Thunder Selects Holiday Classic, have non-conference dates with St. Francis Xavier and unbeaten and fourth-ranked Saint Mary’s before the weekend ends.

“We weren’t doing the little things that we usually do right. And I think just frustration kicked in,” said Fragale, who tied Lindsay Inkla for the team lead with 10 points in the defeat, their opener at the inaugural tournament at the Homburg Centre in Halifax.

Lakehead never led in the contest, falling behind 12-2 in the opening quarter as sloppy play, too many turnovers and a collection of missed easy shots plagued them against the 5-2 Tigers, playing in enemy territory, yet still in their hometown.

Trailing by nine at the end of the first quarter, the Wolves pulled to within four late in the second, only to have Dalhousie spurt away and take a 43-35 lead into the break.

Tessa Stammberger nailed a pair of quick baskets early in the third to extend the Tigers lead to a dozen, but after Ayse Kalkan hit one of two free throws, Fragale buried a pair of back-to-back threes that drew Lakehead to within five, a two-possession game at that point.

It was as close as they’d get.

Led by Keisha Brown, Anna von Maltzahn and Courtney Thompson, the Tigers scored 17 straight points to put the game out of reach once and for all.

“I think we’re a team that really thrives off energy and I think when we make runs, we play better. When teams excel, that’s when we go down and we need to have a leader to step up on the court and take control, say everything’s all right and we’ll come back and get them,” said Fragale, who finished with a team-high eight rebounds.

“But today we didn’t do that.”

LU coach Jon Kreiner said bad starts at the beginning of both halves didn’t do the Thunderwolves any favours, but he wasn’t surprised the team petered out at the end.

“With the way we want to play, a long break like that makes it toughs because we have to be at the top of our games physically. And it wears on you mentally,” Kreiner said. “We were fatigued and we want to be the team that fatigues other teams.

“I think we got close to that hump and then when things don’t go your way fatigue will make you more physically tired. We had some things not go our way and we think we just fell off the cliff at that point.”

Bright spots for Lakehead, who were spurred on by former LU stars Tasia McKenna and Sarah Gordon in the crowd, included Rachael Bland’s first half, who scored nine points in the opening 20 minutes.

Beyond the arc: Both rookie recruits from Nova Scotia saw limited action on Friday. Neither Helena Steeves of Bedford, N.S. and Timberlea’s Emily Lerette factored in the scoring ... Acadia easily walked over St. FX in the opener, taking it 86-52. Saint Mary's and Manitoba were scheduled to play Friday's finale.