The Algonquin Wolves basketball women finished their undefeated regular season on Saturday with a dominant 63-43 win over the Durham Lords.
The Wolves came into the game with a 13-game winning streak and looking for their 14th win and a perfect regular season.
Second-place Durham started the night with a 12-1 record and the only loss coming earlier in the season against Algonquin.
With the win, there is no doubt the Wolves are the team to beat going into the playoffs.
“Going into this game we were all like, it’s going to be tougher. All the teams get better going through the whole second semester. Knowing that we thought it was going to be a closer game but having it be a 20-point game it just feels so great,” said Wolves forward Jade Lyons.
The Wolves were ready for the Lords from the start. Algonquin came out hot and scored 11 unanswered points on Durham. It took 7:59 for the Lords to get their first basket.
“The whole focus of today, when we started this game, was defence first,” said Wolves head coach Jaime McLean. “Just do the simple things defensively, staying disciplined and they did that for the first eight minutes. Got to be happy as a coach.”
The Lords got the first three points of the second quarter to bring the game within four points with the score at 20-16 before the Wolves called a timeout.
After the time out, the Wolves went on a 6-0 run, putting them up by 10 points.
Despite being outscored 14-13 in the second quarter, the Wolves still managed to take a 29-23 lead into halftime.
The third quarter started with an 8-2 run helping the Lords tie the game.
“We got away from what was working for us, playing simple easy basketball. We really got back to that for the fourth quarter. Just playing for the simple stuff and taking the easy stuff,” said McLean.
The Wolves managed to battle back after the tie game and took a 44-36 lead.
The Wolves extended their lead at the end of the third and brought a nine-point, 48-39 lead into the final quarter, looking for the perfect regular season.
The Wolves extended their lead to 13 points in the final quarter before the Lords called a timeout. After the timeout, the Wolves only continued to dominate. They went on a seven-point run, increasing the lead to 20 points before another Lord’s timeout.
“The way they stepped up in that fourth and really started playing for each other was fantastic,” said McLean.
The Wolves battled until the end and took the victory and the perfect regular season.
“It’s a great season but everybody is going to be ready to compete, everybody’s going to be coming hunting. We gotta be ready for it,” McLean said.
“We know we have that bulls-eye on our back, but that’s not going to stop us from being focused at practice,” Lyons said.
The Wolves have a playoff game on Feb. 25, but their opponent is yet to be decided.