Women’s basketball team loses second match of Wesmen Classic

Lakehead’s women’s basketball team lost its second game of the University of Wesmen Classic exhibition tournament on Saturday, dropping a close match to the University of Regina by a score of 85-81.

“It was a tough loss to Regina tonight,” Thunderwolves head coach Jon Kreiner said. “We didn’t turn it over much, but when we did it was for scores.”

Lakehead finished the match with 15 turnovers to Regina’s 19. The Thunderwolves picked up 17 steals.

“Overall, we improved, as we out-rebounded Regina and found ways to battle and score. We played very hard,” Kreiner said.

The Thunderwolves finished the first quarter up 15-14, but took a two-point deficit into the break, trailing 32-30. Lakehead pulled ahead in the third quarter, taking a 57-53 lead into the final frame, but the Thunderwolves were ultimately unable to close out Regina.

“We struggled to get stops in the 4th,” Kreiner said. “We built a five-point lead late in the 3rd, but we could not build on it.”

Karissa Kajorinne led Lakehead in scoring, putting up 22 points in addition to 4 steals and 3 rebounds. Tiffany Reynolds again had an across-the-board game, stuffing the stat sheet with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. Leashja Grant finished with 15 points in only 21 minutes, as she was in foul trouble again for the second game of the tourney. Three Thunderwolves starters finished with 4 fouls apiece.

“There were a lot of good signs of improvement as we prepare for league play,” Kreiner said.

Lakehead moves on to play the University of Manitoba Bisons today in their final match of the Wesmen Classic. The winner will claim a third-place finish.

Thunderwolves basketball returns to OUA play in January with away games at the University of Guelph on January 4th and 5th, and will return to the Thunderdome for their first home games of 2019 to face the Windsor Lancers on January 11th and 12th.

[photo credit to David Larkins, Media and Operations Coordinator with Wesmen Athletics]