Thunderwolves Start OUA Regular Season at Queen’s and York

The Lakehead men’s and women’s basketball teams are set to begin the OUA regular season on the road this upcoming weekend. The Thunderwolves will take on the Queen’s Gaels on Friday night and the York Lions on Saturday.

Women’s Basketball

Aside from injuries, the ‘Wolves have had a positive pre-season, going 6-1 against teams from across the country. In addition to multiple top returners and recruits, Leashja Grant (Bahamas) has already proven to be a major inside threat, averaging almost 24 points every game so far during pre-season.

Coach Kreiner discusses the upcoming weekend:

“Playing the East has many challenges. Travel, playing two games with opponents playing only one and prepping for two teams. Add that we are starting the season off against the OUA #1 ranked team that knocked us out of playoffs last year makes it even more difficult. On top of that we are short on players due to the many injuries we’ve incurred over the start of the season. York is a very much improved team that has one of the top forwards in the country and has had a great preseason while Queen’s is one of the biggest teams that control the boards on both ends of the floor. ‘Adversity is your training partner’ has always been our motto and we will use every bit of it to come together put forth our best effort this weekend.”

The last time the Thunderwolves took on Queen’s was during the OUA Quarter finals where Lakehead lost 81-53.

Men’s Basketball

Key returners, Mor Menache, Nick Burke, Jack Bull and Kache Kopec, all have been playing well during pre-season and are ready to lead the ‘Wolves into their first OUA regular season game of the 2017/18 season. The men’s team is 2-4 this pre-season with some very close match ups, including the Wolves 86-85 loss to Algoma.

“Our guys competed all preseason and we had some close games that we can learn from. We’ll be able to take those experiences now into the regular season and see how we do.” – Coach Furtado

Last year, Kache Kopec led the Wolves in a 79-75 victory against the York Lions with 27 points. The Wolves lost to Queen’s last season in a heartbreaking 76-75 loss.

Weekend Schedule

Friday, October 27 vs. Queen’s @ Athletics & Recreation Centre

6:00pm – Women

8:00pm – Men

Saturday, October 28 vs. York @ Tait-Main Gym

6:00pm – Women

8:00pm – Men

Games will be broadcasted via OUA.tv