THUNDER BAY – For the most part, the Lakehead Thunderwolves women’s basketball team kept the Waterloo Warriors honest on Friday evening at the Thunderdome.
The only stretch of the game where that didn’t happen proved to be the difference in the Thunderwolves opening game of the 2024-25 Ontario University Athletics campaign.
After taking a 9-4 lead midway through the first quarter, the Thunderwolves could only watch on as the Warriors went on a 17-2 run to build up a 21-11 advantage after the opening frame.
The visitors were never challenged from that point as they went on to spoil Lakehead’s home opener by a score of 55-41.
“We just got to do a better job of executing, especially offensively,” Thunderwolves head coach Hugo Boisvert said.
“I thought we were very rattled, in terms of just our decision making. I think there’s a lot of things that we worked on in practice that we just didn’t see or replicate tonight.
“So, I’m a little disappointed in that part of our game. Hopefully, we can bounce back on that side of the ball for tomorrow.”
Despite the loss, fourth year Thunderwolves guard Ally Burke felt like there was a lot of positive the team could take away from the contest.
“I think we had great energy and we really hustled on defence as well,” Burke said.
“We’re also in a really positive mindset. No one’s done from this game. We’re just looking forward.
“We know that we can't get down with the stakes in each game. We’re looking at the next play and keeping our head up. I know that will help us throughout the season.”
Burke led the way for the Thunderwolves with nine points and four assists. Kelly Coulombe scored six points and had a team-high four rebounds.
Kymora Stafford paced the Warriors offence with 10 points, while Nehita Oko-Oboh picked up a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with a nine-point outing.
The Thunderwolves are back in action tomorrow at 6 p.m. against the Algoma Thunderbirds. That game will be the first OUA contest of the season for the Sault Ste. Marie side.
