Thunderdome to host weekend tripleheader, Bell Let’s Talk, and Think Pink

The Lakehead University Thunderdome is set for a boisterous weekend, as our women’s and men’s basketball and women’s volleyball teams all prepare to host visiting teams.

The women’s basketball team tips off the weekend on Friday, January 25 against the visiting Western Mustangs at 6pm. The men’s team follows afterward at 8pm against the Mustangs. The women’s volleyball tips off Saturday’s events against McMaster Marauders at 2pm, with the two basketball games seeing rematches on Saturday evening. The women’s volleyball team closes out the weekend with a Sunday game at 2 pm.

“We have some very important games this weekend at the Thunderdome,” Lakehead women’s basketball coach Jon Kreiner says. “In addition to the fact that we are facing a Western team currently on a four-game win streak, we are also hosting our Bell Let’s Talk games Friday night, and our Think Pink games on Saturday.”

Bell Let’s Talk night, which is aimed at raising money and awareness for mental health research and education, will feature a range of items and activities to help promote the event. Saturday’s “Think Pink” game will help to raise money for cancer research in Northwestern Ontario, and t-shirts and other items will be sold as part of the campaign.

To donate to Thunderwolves women’s basketball’s Think Pink fundraiser, click here.

“Both nights host great causes and we certainly are looking for them to be well attended and supported,” Kreiner says. “The Western Mustangs boast a team that is getting healthy, as well as seeing their first-year players developing with increased playing time due to injuries to their key veterans.

Lakehead’s women’s basketball team enters the weekend hoping to bounce back a three-game losing streak. The Thunderwolves currently sit 12-4 and fell out of the USPORTS national top-ten rankings this week.

Western is 7th in the OUA West and 5-11, but their four-game win streak indicates their record shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“We will have our work cut out for us this weekend,” Kreiner says.

The Thunderwolves men’s basketball team follows the women’s basketball team at 8pm on both Friday and Saturday night.

“Western, currently ranked 9th in the country, is a talented team led by a dynamic guard in Shiddo,” Lakehead men’s basketball coach Ryan Thomson says. “He does a good job of initiating contact, drawing fouls both in the paint and on the perimeter, and is a good shooter on top of that.”

Omar Shiddo currently averages 20.1 points per game, good for fourth in the province. The Mustangs come to Thunder Bay at 12-4, on top of the OUA West, and on a seven-game win streak. Lakehead enters the weekend at 4-12 and 8th in the OUA West. The Thunderwolves, however, do have a point differential better than the three teams ahead of them.

“We need to do a good job of taking care of the ball,” Thomson says, “and to control the defensive glass and execute our gameplan on both ends of the floor.”

Lakehead’s women’s volleyball team takes to the court at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday to face the McMaster Marauders. The games represent the first homestand for Lakehead volleyball of 2019 and the first OUA volleyball for the Thunderdome in over two months.

“We are looking forward to being at home this weekend,” Thunderwolves women’s volleyball coach Craig Barclay says. “It’s been a long time since we have played a home game, with our last being in November.”

McMaster comes to Thunder Bay ranked fourth in the OUA West. Lakehead sits seventh.

“The entire OUA West Division is in a tight race right now,” Barclay says, “and we are hoping that we can make some noise.”

Positions two through six in the OUA West rankings are currently separated by two games, with two teams sharing identical records and four having six wins.

Saturday’s game, at 2pm, will be the women’s volleyball team’s “Think Pink” match, which will help to raise money for cancer research in Northwestern Ontario, and t-shirts and other items will be sold as part of the campaign.

To donate to Thunderwolves women’s volleyball’s Think Pink fundraiser, click here.

“Saturday will be a special matchup,” Barclay says, “as it is our Think Pink match. We have been raising money for this weekend and will continue to raise money until our match is over.”

Basketball and volleyball games will be available via webcast courtesy of OUA.tv