March 7, 2015

Lancers capture third straight OUA title with dominating win over Rams

For the third consecutive year, and sixth time in seven seasons, the OUA championship banner will hang in the rafters of the St. Denis Centre as the Windsor Lancers are champions once again.

Ryerson

16-3

Windsor

19-1

Final

Ryerson 16-3

Windsor 19-1

(Photo by Edwin Tam)

For the third consecutive year, and sixth time in seven seasons, the OUA championship banner will hang in the rafters of the St. Denis Centre as the Windsor Lancers are champions once again.

The Lancers defeated the Ryerson Rams in front of a packed and frenzied home crowd by a score of 71-51 on Saturday night.

The first quarter was dominated by OUA Defensive Player of the Year, and the Lancers leading scorer, Korissa Williams, who scored 12 of her 18 points in the opening frame. For the game, Williams tied for the Lancers lead with 18 points, and led all players with 10 assists and six steals.

Trailing 23-16 into the second quarter, the Rams looked overwhelmed at times in trying to deal with the Lancers ball movement and defence, allowing Windsor a 10-2 run in the quarter to go ahead 35-25 after Ryerson had narrowed the score to 25-23.

By the time the second-quarter buzzer sounded, Ryerson found itself dug into a 42-29 hole and could not recover from the 13-point deficit.

To the Lancers credit, they made sure not to take their foot off the gas pedal, outscoring Ryerson 20-8 in the third quarter, led by Porter Airlines Player of the Game Emiy Prevost who scored eight of her 18 points in the third frame. Prevost was a force to be reckoned with all game, cleaning up the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds, while adding two blocks and three steals.

With a 62-37 lead going into the fourth quarter, the Lancers turned the final frame into a formality, and despite being outscored 14-9, it was not enough for Ryerson who was denied their first ever OUA championship.

Both teams will now prepare for the CIS Final 8 national championship tournament beginning March 12 in Quebec City, hosted by the Laval Rouge et Or.

For Windsor, it will be an opportunity to make history and become just the second team to win five consecutive national titles, something that has only been accomplished by the mid-70s Laurentian Voyageurs dynasty.

"I am so tremendously proud of this group of individuals who pushed through this championship weekend," said Lancers head coach Chantal Vallee. "It is a tremendous rehearsal for Quebec City and it's only a part of the journey. We look forward to being there and to continue climbing our mountain."

The Rams will have the opportunity for redemption in La Belle Province, as they also receive one of OUA's berths in the CIS tournament.

"We'll take this as a learning experience and this is the stage that we're going to be playing on for three games (at the CIS Final 8)," said Rams head coach Carly Clarke. "We still have to be incredibly proud of being second in the OUA. That's a pretty great accomplishment for this season and something we hope to build on next week."

The Rams won an OUA medal for the first time in program history, and ranked No. 7 in the CIS Top 10 are still a team to look out for at the national championships.

Ryerson guard Keneca Pingue-Giles led all players with 24 points in the loss; Silvana Jez was the only other Ram to score in double digits with 10 points.

Windsor dominated down low, outscoring Ryerson 48-12 in the paint, and out-rebounded their opponent 42-32. Ryerson led only once in the game, and that came very early in the first quarter.