A hungry York University Lions women's basketball team kicked off the OUA playoffs on Wednesday night against the Laurentian Voyageurs, looking for their first playoff win since 2019. This the 8 vs. 9 matchup in the OUA, little separated the two teams coming in. Laurentian earned homecourt advantage by virtue of their 13-9 regular season record, while the Lions came in after a .500 season at 11-11, their best mark since 2019-20 when they also won 11 games.
The Lions were looking to exact some revenge on the Voyageurs after losing to Laurentian earlier in the season, a 74-59 defeat on Nov. 22. However, that was not on the Lions minds, knowing that the playoffs are a chance to wipe the slate clean.
The visitors jumped out to a 5-0 start off a layup from Kiara Leveridge and a Gabby Di Pietro, and-one. The Lions got inside with regularity early and went 4-for-6 from the stripe in the opening frame. Alexis Grewal drilled a three late in what was a low-scoring quarter, as the Lions led 13-9 after one.
Grewal and Di Pietro both drilled threes early in the second, with the latter making it a 21-14 game. York went an efficient 8-for-9 from the line in the quarter, continuing to go to work in the point. Marley Hayle added two buckets off the bench, one of them being an and-one play. York went on a 14-2 run over a stretch of 4:03 to stretch a four-point lead to as 17, 36-19, with 3:02 to play in the half. However, a late 9-1 Voyageurs surge in the quarter had them back in the game, but the Lions shut it down and still finished the second in good shape, up 37-28.
York shared the ball effectively in the third, with six different players scoring points in the frame. Sev Grewal buried a three to expand an eight-point lead to 11, 49-38, and Ella Okubasu added four points of her own. Despite allowing Laurentian to get to within five midway through the frame, the Lions held a 51-44 lead heading into the final frame.
The Voyageurs tightened the deficit to 57-55, as a 7-2 run over a 1:12 span forced a Lions timeout. However, one of the biggest keys to the game for the Lions, rebounding, proved imperative late, as they out-boarded Laurentian 12-6 in the fourth and 47-31 on the night. The Lions closed the game on a 9-0 run over the final 3:55, and that was enough to seal a 66-55 win – York's first under Christa Eniojukan and the first in the career of Leveridge – allowing the Lions to move on to the OUA quarter-finals this weekend.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will move on and head to Kingston to face the top-seeded Queens Gaels in the OUA quarter-finals on Saturday. You can watch the game live on OUA TV. Stay tuned to yorkulions.ca for details on game time.
