Photo by: Charlie Martin
After starting the season 2-0, the women’s basketball team welcomed an 0-2 Lakehead University to Bob Davis Gym for back-to-back weekend games.
Game one looked like a grind from the opening tip.
Though the Badgers only scored 12 points in the first quarter, Lakehead did much worse with only six of their own.
The rest of the first half was not much better. Though Lakehead did scrounge up 11 points, they still couldn’t muster a shooting percentage north of an abysmal 17 from the field.
Though Brock wouldn’t fare much better – only scoring 27 total points in the half on 24 per cent shooting – guard Madalyn Weinert, last week’s Brock Athlete of the Week, continued to lead the way with nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and a block, despite shooting struggles from the field.
If Lakehead were looking to get back in the game in the second half, whatever their coach said in the intermission did not work.
Holding them to another quarter of sub-20 field goal percentage, the Badgers absolutely clamped Lakehead in the third quarter. Limiting them to only five points, the Badger’s tacked on 18 to stretch their commanding lead. Noor Bazzi was instrumental in this run, tallying 11 third quarter points.
The fourth quarter was mostly one of treading water. Holding a 45-22 lead, this was mostly about Brock wrapping it up without drama. Which is exactly what happened. Despite only scoring eight in the quarter, the Badger’s defence made it possible for them to grow their lead in a quarter where they only scored in single digits.
Winning 53 to 29, the Badgers dominated Lakehead in a number of respects. Specifically, the Badger’s work-rate impressed, steamrolling the Thunderwolves in rebounds, second chance points and points off turnovers.
Thanks to her spark plug effort in the third, Bazzi led all Badgers in points with 13. Though she didn’t score–or, in fact play any more than two minutes–Weinert continued her excellent work, finishing second in team points and adding an assist and two rebounds in the second half.
Rematch
Lakehead’s rematch followed on Saturday the 12th. Looking to rebound from an embarrassing offensive showing, Lakehead brought a whole different energy to the table in game two.
The first quarter was a gun show for both sides, and a tight one at that. Though Brock would leave the first up by one, Lakehead’s 18 points would have been the most scored by either side in one quarter in Friday’s game.
If the first quarter was close, the second was dead even. Though it didn’t totally continue the flame-thrower start, the 12-12 quarter was an exciting one.
Shaking off whatever shooting bug hit them the day before, both teams looked reinvigorated in their shooting. Brock had 31 points on 11-33 shooting, seven per cent better than Friday on the whole. Lakehead completely flipped the script. One day after shooting 15.5 per cent in an entire match, they had 30 points on 34.6 per cent shooting. The 30 points was also one point more than Lakehead’s entire offensive output the day prior.
Something that didn’t change was Weinert’s involvement in the offence. Weinert led all Badgers with nine points, three rebounds and an assist. Olivia Fiorucci provided secondary scoring with eight points in the half.
Weinert, though, was only just getting started.
The third quarter was still close with Brock only up by three, but the fourth was all Badgers as the women stormed ahead, outscoring Lakehead 22-11 in the quarter.
Most of that scoring was courtesy of Weinert.
In the second half, Weinert scored 16 points on 5-9 field goal shooting. Her 25 points on the night was a career high for the sophomore. Her 13 rebounds, five assists and steal solidified her as the leader of Brock’s 72-57 victory.
Fiorucci and Allision Addy also had strong across the board performances. Fiorucci finished second in team scoring with 15, in addition to three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Addy was in third with 13, chipping in five rebounds, two assists and a block.
Thanks to the win, the Badgers improved to a perfect 4-0 on the season.
The Badgers play twice next weekend, once at home on Friday, Nov. 18 against University of Waterloo. For their full schedule and results, take a look at their gobadgers.ca page.