The York University Lions women's basketball team beat the Algoma Thunderbirds by 15 points on Friday, Nov. 9 at the Tait McKenzie Centre. The victory was their second win of the regular season and came by way of a 74-59 final score over the visiting team.
The Lions outscored the Thunderbirds in points in three of the four quarters. In the first quarter of the game, Algoma's Karly Francalanze scored the first two points of the game against the Lions, but York forward
Lauren Golding soon answered with a two-point jump shot, which was followed by a three-point shot from Francalanze.
The Lions took the lead from the Thunderbirds during the remainder of the quarter with five points by York's
Katrina Collins-Samuels and four by Golding. Algoma was able to secure 12 points against the Lions who registered 17 in the first frame.
The Lions kept their lead in the second quarter of the game as they added 21 more points against the Thunderbirds who scored 16. York guard
Chante Clarke was the leading scorer for the Lions in the quarter, as fourteen seconds after she entered the game Clarke scored a two-point jump shot, followed by another two-point jumper, which was then completed with a three-point jump shot, adding a total seven points to the Lions' lead.
With the Lions out in front, the Thunderbirds made a strong attempt to close their gap against the Lions. Algoma's Sawyer Fischer was able to secure five points for Algoma in the quarter, but it was not enough to close the gap on the Lions going into half-time as the Lions led with a 38-28 lead.
Algoma was, able to narrow the lead in the third quarter as they outscored the Lions 18-16, which still put them 10 points behind. Sawyer and Francalanze secured the most goals for the Thunderbirds, including two three-pointers for Francalanze. In the final quarter of the game, York was the better team and was able to score 20 points to the Thunderbirds 13. Fracalanza finished with the most points for the Thinderbids, with 19, and York's Collins-Samuels also finished with 19 points as the top scorer for the Lions.
The Lions will have a quick turnaround and will be playing the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, Nov. 10 as they attempt to keep their winning momentum on home court at Tait McKenzie Centre.
