WBB - Voyageurs start 2024 off with a win against Lakehead
On Friday evening, the women's basketball team traveled to Thunder Bay to take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves. This game commences the second half of the season, in which the Voyageurs defeated the Thunderwolves, with a score of 61-51.
To start the first quarter, Lauren Robertson-Martin scored a layup eighteen seconds into the game, giving the Voyageurs an early lead. In the next few minutes, the Thunderwolves scored 8 points, while Emilie Lafond added 2 more points to the board. Halfway through the quarter, Aneisha Rismond scored a jump shot, while Monica Jean-Baptiste scored the first 3-point shot for the Vees. At the four-minute mark, Rismond scored a layup, Molly Adams and Melanie Cloutier scored a combination of 4 free throws. At the last minute, the Thunderwolves scored a late 3-pointer, giving them a 16-15 lead going into the next quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Lafond got fouled and made one free throw, while Cloutier scored a layup. At the five-minute mark, Lafond scored two more layups and two jump shots, and Claudia Pellerin scored her first layup of the game. At the end of the quarter, the Voyageurs were up 29-25 going into the half.
The third quarter was when the Voyageurs' offense lit up. Twenty seconds in, Lafond scored a jump shot and Robertson-Martin scored a layup shortly after. Both teams were scoreless until the sixth minute, where Lafond made another free throw and Rileigh Smith scored two free throws herself. Two minutes later, Robertson-Martin, Lyndelle Joseph, Adams, and Cloutier scored a combination of 9 points, ending the quarter with the lead still on their side.
In the last ten minutes, Lafond opened up scoring with a layup and four free throws once again. Smith and Robertson-Martin scored a layup each which added 4 more points for the Voyageurs. At the two-minute mark, Audrey-Anne Labreche scored a 3-point shot, which concluded scoring for Laurentian. The Voyageurs won the match 61-51 in the first game of the new year.
The standout performers included Emilie Lafond with 22 points and 9 rebounds, Lauren Robertson-Martin with 11 points and 8 rebounds, and Melanie Cloutier with 6 points and 16 rebounds.
The Voyageurs are back in action on Friday, January 12th, as they head to the Nation's Capital to take on the uOttawa Gee-Gees, followed by the Carleton Ravens on Saturday. Both tip-offs are scheduled for 6pm.
-Madison Boileau