It was a defensive Battle of Waterloo on Friday night at the PAC as the Warriors earned their second overtime win of 2019, this time in double overtime topping the Laurier Golden Hawks 59-58.
It was the first win for the Warriors over their cross-town rivals since October 29, 2008, where they defeated the Hawks 52-49.
Vanessa Hughes (Hamilton/) hit the game winning free throw on her second attempt with just 10 seconds left in the second overtime to give Waterloo the 59-58 advantage. In what was a fitting finish, Waterloo's defence stood tall in the dying seconds to preserve the one point victory.
Waterloo and Laurier had near identical numbers up and down the stats sheet, with the visitors shooting 27.2% from the field while Waterloo operated at 26.3% and both struggled from 3-point land at 20.8%. The slight difference came from the charity stripe where Waterloo went 12-for-25 while Laurier hit just nine free throw's.
Kaitlyn Overeem (Brantford/),
Ella Mahler (Hamilton/) and
Vanessa Hughes (Hamilton/) all had 10 points in the win while
Beth Howlett (Burlington) and
Hilary Ferguson (Cambridge/) each had nine. On the boards,
Meghan Sharp (Kitchener/) was huge with a game high 17 rebounds while Overeem had 11. On the night, Waterloo finished with 55 rebounds while Laurier had 52.
With the win Waterloo improved to 5-12 and sit tied for the sixth and final playoff spot with Guelph and Western, all at 10 points each.
Following a tough loss by the men in their Battle of Waterloo contest, the
series now sits at 8-6-1 in favour of the Hawks with four games remaining.
Waterloo will be back at it tonight with a tough test against the No. 3 team in the nation, McMaster Marauders. Tip-off is set for 6pm.
