Box Score The York University Lions women's basketball team picked up its first win of the season on Saturday night, defeating the Waterloo Warriors by a final score of 58-43 at the Tait McKenzie Centre.

The Lions used a dominant second quarter to extend the five-point lead they had in the first quarter, and led 37-17 at the half. The Warriors edged the Lions in each of the next two quarters but it wasn't nearly enough to erase the early deficit.

The first quarter saw the Warriors turn the ball over numerous times due to a combination of their own sloppy play and good defence by the Lions. York guard Kayla Pangos (Holland Landing, Ont.) made an effort to be aggressive and drive to the rim and she gave the Lions a 14-8 lead after converting two free throws with four minutes to play.

The Warriors were unable to find their shooting stroke all quarter, as they missed quite a few open looks. The first quarter concluded with the Lions holding a 16-11 lead.

The Lions opened the second quarter with some urgency and they extended their lead to nine off of two quick buckets by Cyrielle Recoura (Voiron, France).

After the Warriors made it 21-15, the Lions refused to let them get any closer as some nice ball movement on consecutive possessions gave them a 25-15 lead.  Turnovers continued to plague Waterloo, and Lions guard Nadia Qahwash (Kitchener, Ont.) made two layups courtesy of some Waterloo miscues to extend the Lions lead to 33-17 with 3:30 to play in the second quarter.  

Waterloo would call a timeout to try to stop the bleeding, but the Lions didn't back down and were able to take a commanding 20-point lead into halftime.

The third quarter opened at a sluggish pace as the Lions struggled to find their offence, but their great work at the defensive end continued. The Warriors were unable to mount any sort of rally, and at the midway point of the quarter the Lions continued to hold a 20-point lead and showed no signs of letting it slip away. The Warriors continued to hurt themselves as they missed most of the open opportunities they would receive, and the Lions had their first win of the season all but sealed as they took a comfortable 44-27 lead into the final frame.

The Lions were never threatened in the fourth quarter, as they did a great job of controlling he clock and taking care of the basketball. They continued to play good defence and Recoura added some impressive baskets to lead the Lions to the victory.

Recoura led all players in scoring with 18 points and also chipped in seven rebounds and three assists. It was the fourth game in a row she led the team in scoring, and she is now averaging 15.7 points per game on the year which is good for fourth overall in the OUA.  

Forward Courtney Osborne (Markham, Ont.) had a big game as well, just missing a double-double with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Waterloo's leading scorer was Kate Kuntze (Stratford/) with 10 points and two steals. A trio of players had seven points on the night, Laura Bossers (Stratford/), Laura Burnett (Heidelberg/) and Marti Killeen (Oakville/).

The win improved York's record to 1-5, while the Warriors are still left searching for their first victory as they are now 0-5 to start the season.

Waterloo will wrap up 2012 next weekend with a pair of games against Carleton (Friday) and Ottawa (Saturday), both at the PAC (6pm).