York Defensive Intensity Stymies Lady Vs
Top Performers
Laurentian: Katie Goggins; 20pts, 5ast, 9reb, 2stl
York: Brittany Szockyj; 13pts, 4ast, 7reb, 3stl, 3-6 3fg
Sudbury, ON — Playing their final games of 2010, the York Lions (4-5) and Laurentian Lady Vs (1-8) squared off on Saturday in what would end in a comfortable 62-49 victory for York who won their third game of the season.
The struggling Lady Vs came out in the first quarter with a lot of energy, with their floor leader Katie Goggins scoring seven of the Vs first nine points. On the other hand, York’s Emily Perras knocked down multiple threes in the first period and got into a groove which she rode throughout the game to the tune of of a team-high 19 points.
While the remainder of the game was played with a lot of grit, Laurentian simply struggled to make jump shots, and they turned the ball over at an excessive rate because they failed to get into any sort of rhythm offensively. York didn’t fare much better on the offensive end, but they took care of the ball and managed to score baskets at the rim when their shots weren’t falling. York also shot the ball relatively well from downtown, which kept the Laurentian defense honest enough to create driving opportunities.
The York coaching staff certainly read the scouting report on Laurentian’s Lisa Furchner, as the Lions repeatedly double and triple-teamed her whenever she received the ball in the post. Laurentian committed 20 turnovers in this game, many of which occurred on their attempts to lob the ball to Furchner in the post – passes that York was expecting and ready to interrupt.
The Lions may have needed more of a sense of urgency coming down the stretch, except Laurentian was having a very difficult time with their free-throw attempts; they shot an atrocious 47.6% from the charity stripe, missing 11 of their 21 attempts.
There was a scary moment for Laurentian late in the third when Goggins came down hard from a defensive rebound and sank to the floor apparently in a great deal of pain; she eventually got to her feet amidst a round of applause from the fans. Goggins proved that she was the heart and soul of her team as she fought for loose balls and kept defending with intensity even as the game slid from the Vs reach. The rebound was the 500th of her career.
Laurentian will try to recoup over the Christmas break and be ready for when Queen’s comes to town on January 7, while York will go for their second straight the same night against RMC.
(Photo Courtesy: York Athletics)
