Lady Lancers lose in gritty performance
With a boisterous Loyalist crowd in house, the Lady Lancers put on a valiant effort Tuesday, but ultimately fell short to Durham 62-60, while losing key starter Leticia Lopez to injury in the process.
With half a second left in the fourth-quarter, the Lancers were still in it. It all came down to an inbound pass with the hopes of a Hail Mary shot from inside Durham territory. The Lancers had fought back from a 12 point deficit to only be down by two.
They had lost Leticia Lopez No. 10, in the second quarter to an ankle injury but were determined to face the challenge head on, and persevere. The only thing that could stop them now was time.
The pass came in from the inbound line, Durham swarmed the Lancers, frantically swatting at the ball trying to dislodge it, then the buzzer sounded, and the once boisterous crowd went silent ending an intense moment shared only by those in attendance. Reminding us why we play these games, that’s sports.
Both the Lancers and Durham were cautious in the beginning, it was an almost tentative start to the game. The importance of this game appeared to weigh heavily on both squads. The winner would begin the playoffs at home, while the loser would be forced to travel westward to face London Ont.’s Fanshawe College. Fanshawe boasts an impressive regular season record of 14 – 4. The Lancers and Durham sat equal in the standings prior to this game, at 7 wins and 6 losses apiece.
As the first-quarter was coming to an end, Durham began to find its stride. They finished off the quarter on a high note, leading by eight, with a score of 15-7.
“Both teams were so tight in the first quarter, nobody could do anything,” said the head coach for the Durham Lords, Heather LaFontaine.
The Lancers were rushing their shots from the outside and missing key layups, Durham slowly began to take advantage of Lancer mistakes.
“Offensively, we have to take our time a bit more with layups and stuff like that,” said Lancers Porscha Hewitt, No. 7.
By the end of the first-half the Lancers had pulled to within two points, trailing Durham 21-19.
Although the Lancers were able to claw back to within two points, it wasn’t without cost. Leticia Lopez No. 10 a key starter and point getter for the Lancers was sidelined due to an ankle injury with nine minutes left in the second. Lopez an integral part of the Lancers offense, sustained an injury to the same right ankle during practice only days earlier. X-rays would later confirm no bones were broken, but Lopez is most likely done for the season.
“Yeah, it hurt us not having Leticia. She’s a spark for us. She produces on offence by scoring. She attacks the basket and dishes. So that hurt us a bit, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to get it done and we didn’t,” said James McCourt, head coach for the Lancers.
The third-quarter was all Durham. Lindsey Panchan No. 20, the leader and top scorer for the Lords, found her stride as Durham began to add to its lead.
The Lancers game plan was to double Panchan and limit her touches. But in the end, Panchan’s skill wasn’t to be denied, as she accounted for 32 of Durham’s 62 points.
“They’ve got arguably the best player in the east for sure. They’ve got Lindsey Panchan on their team, so we’re going to look to double her and be aggressive on her,” said McCourt.
“In the second half, she played likes she’s capable of playing,” said LaFontaine of Panchan’s play.
Down by 12 at the start of the fourth quarter and without Lopez, the Lancers proved they still had a lot of fight left in them. The Lancers began picking at Durham’s lead, scoring on 29 per cent of their three-point shots in the second-half. Jenni Thompson No. 5 for the Lancers scored 27 of the Lancers total 60 points in the game, helping to make up for some of the offensive production lost by an injured Lopez.
“We came back in the fourth, we scored 28 points,” said McCourt. “The girls were physical, they were gritty, and they were doing what we wanted them to do.”
Ultimately the downfall for the Lancers was the lack of point production earlier on in the game.
“It was a frustrating loss, obviously. It was hard to lose by two. I think overall the team did very well. Our defence was very solid. Offensively wasn’t really coming. We missed a lot of easy layups,” said Alexandra Cleave, No. 14 for the Lancers.
The Lancers now face Fanshawe College in London this Saturday, in a do-or-die playoff game.
