Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Building off a pair of back-to-back three-pointers near the end of the third quarter, the Lethbridge Pronghorns blew open a close game with a balanced offensive attack and thoroughly dominant defensive effort to wallop the MacEwan Griffins 82-53 in Canada West women's basketball action on Friday night.
Head coach Dave Waknuk gave that very speech at half-time as his team went into a zone defence that gave the Griffins fits and held them to just eight fourth-quarter points.
"With us getting a taste of the post-season last year, we saw the best teams are those that defend," said the Pronghorns head coach. "My challenge at half-time, I thought our offence was pretty good, but our defence wasn't where it needed to be, so we needed to dig in and get rebounds.
"MacEwan is a tough team. They don't stop trying, so for us it was just that second chance stuff. They did such a good job of attacking the offensive boards early that we had to take care of our defensive rebounds and get stops."
With the result, the Pronghorns improve to 8-9 and inch closer to their goal of locking up a playoff spot, while the Griffins fall to 2-15.
Three statistics really stand out as to why the Griffins – who were within 10 points midway through the third quarter – lost by 29 in the end. Their shooting percentage was a woeful 28.8 per cent, they gave up 31 points off of 29 turnovers and they got to the free throw line less than half the times that Lethbridge did (14 compared to 29).
"I thought that we were outworked and out-toughed for 40 minutes today," said MacEwan head coach Katherine Adams. "They certainly came to play, and we didn't match their intensity.
"I think that shows itself in free-throw attempts. They got to the line 29 times and caught us sleeping a little bit and reactionary at the defensive end. Certainly, that tells the story of the game."
Fifth-year veterans Kacie Bosch and Asnate Fomina both hit four-of-six three-point attempts and scored 20 points apiece to pace the Pronghorns. Katie Keith approached a double double with eight points and nine rebounds.
"Bosch and Famina have led us all the way and they're a big part of our success," said Waknuk. "Just to have that veteran presence that can make the plays that we need to … they just set a tone for everybody. With their confidence and ball control, good things happen for us because of that."
With the Griffins hanging around within 10 in the third quarter, Famina and Bosch hit back-to-back three-pointers inside the final 2:16 and the home team just kind of went away after that.
Lethbridge suddenly had a 20-point lead with 5:39 left and the game was all but over.
"Defensively, their zone just took us out of rhythm a little bit," said Adams. "We were trying to get some inside looks and they generated some turnovers off of that. Our discipline and intentional purposeful execution when we needed it just didn't serve us well."
Hayley Lalor led the Griffins with 12 points, Mackenzie Farmer had 11, Rachel Hare recorded 10 and Shannon Majeau narrowly missed a double double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Adams is hoping her team can respond to getting outworked – something they can control – for Saturday's rematch (5 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
"It's something we've got to take personally and say, 'we don't want to feel this way again tomorrow night,' " she said. "It's in our control. Let's do what we can do to at least be proud of our efforts, win lose or draw."
