THUNDER BAY – All Ally Burke could do is watch the ball bounce harmlessly off the rim, denying the Lakehead Thunderwolves a buzzer-beating overtime shocker against the unbeaten McMaster Marauders.
It was a rare miss for the fourth-year guard, who otherwise had a career night, lighting up the Marauders for 31 points, the most she’s yet to score in an OUA contest.
Seconds earlier Burke had gone to the line with a chance to tie the game, the Wolves trailing 67-65. She hit the first, but missed the second. Lakehead regained control of the ball, a chance to inbound with 2.7 seconds left.
It didn’t work out as planned and McMaster escaped with a 67-66 win, improving to 4-0 in the process.
“I think as a team we feel really good, compared to last night and today, competing with them the whole time. That was really good for us,” Burke said.
“We had a lot to fix from last night, especially just taking care of the ball and trying to limit turnovers. So that was a big focus. We just tried to play with energy and compete the whole time.”
Turnovers were still an issue.
Lakehead (1-3) gave the ball away 26 times on the night, compared to just seven turnovers by McMaster.
“We knew that we had to improve. They have really good pressure. So that’s something we have to improve – and giving open layups to other teams,” said Spanish import Paula Lopez, who finished with 16 points and three assists.
“But this shows that we can actually be there and beat every team. We have to go hard every game and I think we’ll see good results, probably.”
It was the Thunderwolves who controlled the pace of the game.
Burke opened the scoring with a three, and minutes later, after Hana Whalen buried one from distance, the T-Wolves led 11-2. They took a 23-15 lead into the second and matched McMaster nearly shot for shot in the second and led 38-31 at the break.
Lopez opened with a three-pointer of her own to start the second half, a statement that the Wolves weren’t going anywhere.
However, by the time the third came to a close, Cassandra Joli-Cour hit a pair of free throws, two of her team-high 15, and McMaster trailed by just a single point, down 47-46.
Deanna Mataseje opened the fourth with a steal and a bucket, giving the Marauders their first lead of the night. But try as they might, McMaster never made it more than a one-possession game in regulation and, with 1:15 Burke drained a trey, tying the game 56-56.
Keira Chow missed a jumper that would have given LU the lead and Burke came up with a steal, but her open layup bounced off the rim with five seconds to go, sending the game to overtime.
McMaster (4-0) led by as many as four in the overtime period, but Lakehead kept it close. Kelly-Anne Coulombe closed the gap to 66-65 with a reverse and after Mataseje only made one of two from the line with 23.2 on the clock, the Wolves had a chance to take the lead, but came up an inch or two short.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” said Lakehead coach Hugo Boisvert. “We put ourselves in position to win the game. We had a few chances to win at the end. That’s all you can ask for. I thought we got great looks to win the game, twice, and even three times.”
Lakehead hits the road next weekend for games against Windsor and Western.
