It's long been said defence wins championships.
 
The York University Lions women's basketball team are taking that in mind over the course of training camp. There will be an emphasis on the defensive side of things this season.
 
"You'll definitely see a high-paced, energetic, defensive-first team," said head coach Christa Eniojukan. "We really want to lock in on defence and lead the OUA from the defensive end out.
 
"When we're at our best, we're doing that, and our offence is built off our work at the defensive end."
 
The Lions are coming off a solid season in 2021-22, finishing with a 10-6 regular season record. That included finishing the regular season white hot, winning seven of their final eight games. Unfortunately, they fell in the opening round of the OUA playoffs to Queen's, 74-65.
 
Now, the focus is building on the winning formula they discovered to finish last year.
 
"Our team wants to win," said Eniojukan. "Last year we had a pretty good record in league play, but didn't go as far as we would've liked in the playoffs. So, we definitely want to do a lot better than that.
 
"Our girls are motivated and we're on the same page; we want to win. So, how far that gets us, whether it's a championship or not, we're going to fight tooth and nail to get there."
 
Eniojukan sees a solid mix of older, more experienced pieces and a new crop of youngsters ready to lead the team forward into the future.
 
"You can definitely tell that there's a good vibe and a good cohesion between the veteran leadership that we have and the new incoming athletes, and everything in between," she said. "I think the rookies and second year players have filled in some of the gaps from the girls who graduated last year, and I feel we're really starting to collaborate and build together."
 
The York bench boss is hoping for graduating senior Lauren Golding to build on another great year in her final season as a Lion.
 
"We should expect a lot from her," Eniojukan said. "She was an all-star the last couple years and we expect her to continue to make an impact, an even bigger one this year."
 
She also pointed out last year's OUA East rookie of the year Kiara Leveridge to take another leap in her sophomore season, saying, "We expect to see great things from her, and I know she's always a fan favourite."
 
Fans can watch Leveridge and the rest of the Lions as they open up the new season tomorrow night at Carleton against the Ravens. The game is available to be seen on OUA.tv.