THUNDER BAY – Eva Guilera was highly touted when she arrived at Lakehead University, but injuries have impacted her ability to reach her full potential.
She showed she’s ready to shine on Saturday night, scoring 18 points off the bench while hauling in nine rebounds, leading the Thunderwolves women’s basketball team to a convincing 66-42 win over the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds.
Guilera, who hails from Spain, was at her absolute best in the second quarter, scoring four straight baskets to open the frame, the final eight points in a 15-0 Lakehead run that gave them the lead for good and stretched their advantage to 23-12.
They never looked back.
“It was just about getting the rebounds and the hard work, being confident in the work I’ve put in,” Guilera said.
The eight-point stretch came the hard way, in the paint.
Two of the buckets came off feeds from guard Ally Burke, Guilera not only being in the right spot, but showing a keen court awareness at both ends of the C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse.
Coach Hugo Boisvert said Guilera was phenomenal from start to finish.
“She was really good taking care of the boards on both ends, finishing plays, being in the right spots. She did a great job with her two-player actions and getting to the pocket for either a mid-range or finishing at the rim,” Boisvert said.
Individual performances aside, it was more important to get the win, coming off of Friday’s disappointing 55-41 homecourt loss to the Waterloo Warriors.
“We’ve been working really hard all summer, so we’re ready to begin the season with a win,” Guilera said.
“After yesterday it was just really important for us to start off good so the work we did could pay off.”
Boisvert said the effort in the second quarter is one of the best performances he’s seen from the Thunderwolves since he arrived last season.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I thought at the start of the game we were getting good looks. I wasn’t really worried in those first couple of minutes because I thought we were getting what we wanted offensively.
“I was more so worried on the defensive side because we were letting it slide on that end. But overall, I agree (the second) was one of our best quarters in terms of how we want to play offensively.”
The Thunderbirds jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, but Sara Azzolini came off the Thunderwolves bench and was dared to shoot from distance. She buried two threes, the second of which gave LU a 12-11 lead that they’d never relinquish.
Paula Lopez finished with 11 points for Lakehead (1-1), while Burke closed things out with six points and 10 assists.
Kaila Fong led Algoma (0-1) with 13 points and Nadia Singh chipped in 11.
