THUNDER BAY – A strong start was impressive, but Madalyn Weinert was even more impressive.
The Brock Badgers star guard, who leads the OUA in scoring, put up 34 points on Saturday night, leading her team to a come-from-behind win over a Lakehead Thunderwolves team that, seeking to overcome a lopsided loss the night before, opened a 25-14 lead after the opening quarter.
Lakehead le by one at the half and the two teams traded the lead back and forth in the third quarter that saw five lead changes.
Paulo Lopez, who finished with a 22 points, opened a five-point gap with 19 seconds to go in the third, but Oluwatito Aknnusi cut it to three just before the buzzer.
The fourth was all Badgers when it mattered most.
Brock finally took the lead again with 7:05 to play, on a Weinert layup.
Lakehead kept it close, thanks to a pair of big buckets by guard Ally Burke that closed the gap to 67-65, and later buried a three with 64 seconds left to make it 74-72 Brock, but a Noor Bazzi steal with 14 seconds to play iced it for the Badgers, Weinert sealing it at the free-throw line.
Weinert an Oluwatito both had double-doubles for the visitors, who swept both games at the Thunderdome this weekend.
Burke led LU with 23 points. Eva Guilera came off the bench to put up 10 points an nine rebounds.
It was the sixth straight loss for Lakehead (4-14). The Badgers, winners of eight straight improved to 13-4.
Lakehead hosts Queen’s on Feb. 9 and Ontario Tech on Feb. 10. They’re off next weekend.
