Weak starts and weak finishes won’t win too many basketball games – at any level.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves were able to overcome what’s becoming a disturbing trend on Friday night to pull out a two-point win over Toronto. But on Saturday, despite building a 10-point lead early in the fourth, after being down eight in the second, they couldn’t drive the dagger into the Ryerson Rams.
Silavan Jez scored eight of her game-high 18 in the final quarter, willing Ryerson to a 63-57 win at the Thunderdome to drop the Wolves back to .500 at 4-4.
“It seems we struggle to have a good start and s good finish. We scored 40 points in the second and third quarter combined, looking like we were going pretty good,” said Lakehead coach Jon Kreiner.
Up 10, the Rams went on a 6-0 run, then chipped away at their deficit the rest of the contest, while Lakehead couldn't rediscover the offensive touch that put them in front in the first place.
“(The coaches) were just talking about it in the office. We don’t know what happened. We were going good, we were in a groove and we lose confidence and all of a sudden we’re looking east-west as opposed to north-south. When you’re struggling, you’ve got to get the ball inside.”
The biggest issue facing the Thunderwolves late in Saturday’s contests was their shots just wouldn’t drop. Bad-shot decisions and untimely misses cost them the contest. Lakehead shooters hit just twice from the field in the fourth and were out-scored 21-7.
Kreiner said they know they need to put games like this away.
“The only bright spot is Guelph lost today to Toronto by two, so it means we have a one-game lead on them. We’re in fifth and they’re in sixth. But we should have had a two-game lead on them right now and we just let that slip away and that was disappointing,” Kreiner said.
“The only two kids who I thought played well today were Blair McNaughton – and I probably should have played her some more – and Cassandra Soulias.”
Kreiner’s core three, veterans Katie Ulakovic, Ayse Kalkan and Kelsey Bardsley, struggled when the game was on the line.
Kalkan, in foul trouble most of the second half, had the only hoop for the Wolves, breaking a 55-55 tie. But it was the only points she managed in the final period.
Bardsley, who had 10 at the half, collected just two more in the final 20 minutes, missing all four of her three-point chances on the night.
Ulakovic, who hit an early three, was held off the score-sheet in the second half.
Jez and teammate Keneca Pingue-Giles, on the other hand, hit the hoops the Rams needed to pull out the improbable win.
Pingue-Giles drained an excuse-me three-pointer late in the fourth to give Ryerson their first lead since the second quarter, then Jez extended the lead to 60-57 with a hoop of her own and sank the Wolves with a pair of successful free throws.
Things don’t get any easier for Lakehead, who travel to Windsor for a pair next weekend against the two-time defending national champion Lancers.
