Reporter: Francis Viloria
The Durham Lords women’s basketball team took care of business at home in a 76-51 victory over the Centennial Colts on Nov. 15, handing the Colts their first loss of the season. The Lords played excellent defence to start the game, but couldn’t grab the defensive rebound and allowed five offensive rebounds in the quarter. Durham led 14-11, but they committed back-to-back turnovers and they trailed 15-14. The Lords answered and they led 22-17 at the end of the first, despite being out-rebounded.
The Colts started the second quarter on a 6-2 run, bringing the lead down to one, 24-23. The game was tied 28-28 with six minutes left in the quarter. Then the Lords started to pull away, ending the quarter on a 16-2 run, and led 44-30 at the half. The Lords shot an efficient 51.5 per cent from the field, while the Colts shot only 31.6 per cent.
The energy continued in the second half. The Lords pounded the ball in the paint and they got to the free throw line. They were over the foul limit with about three minutes left in the third, but they missed a lot of free throws. Durham led 59-38 at the end of the third, out-scoring Centennial 15-8 in the quarter. Both teams struggled from the free throw line. Durham shot 15 of 28, or 53.6 per cent for the game, while Centennial shot 10 of 22, or 46 per cent.
The offense was still aggressive in the fourth, as the Lords increased their lead to 27. They played defence without fouling. The Colts had five fouls in the quarter and Durham had zero. Towards the end of the game, the Colts fouls started to get a little bit too rough. “Physical in one thing, but some of their pushing and shoving, that’s when people start to get hurt. That’s what we were worried about someone getting hurt,” said head coach Heather Lafontaine. The Lords cruised to a 76-51 win. Kate Mowat led the team with 22 points, shooting an astonishing 10 for 11 from the field, and she contributed five rebounds. Kelsey Hare had the best overall game with a double-double, 16 points, shooting 6 for 10 from the field, 11 rebounds, and she also had five assists, three steals, and two blocks.
