Weekend wrap: Women’s basketball Lions defeat Warriors for third straight victory

The York University Lions women’s basketball team picked up its third straight victory on Saturday night with a big 62-40 win over the University of Waterloo Warriors at the Physical Activities Complex in Waterloo, Ont.

The Lions are outscoring their opponents by an average of 24.3 points per game during their winning streak, and they are now up to 4-3 and fourth place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East standings.

The Warriors scored the first five points of the game and remained in the lead until the final seconds of the opening quarter, when the Lions pulled ahead at 15-13 thanks to a basket by Haley Bowie. More details.

On Friday night, Lindsay Shotbolt recorded her third straight double-double to lead the Lions to a 69-58 win over the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks also on the road. Shotbolt finished with an impressive 17 points and 19 rebounds, as well as four assists, five steals and two blocks. She shot 6-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

Laurier scored the first five points of the game, but the Lions came right back with the next seven to take a two-point lead. The two teams traded leads four more times throughout the opening quarter, and the Lions led 21-17 after 10 minutes of play. More details.

Men’s volleyball Lions need five sets but defeat Warriors for fifth win

The York University Lions men’s volleyball team let a two-set lead slip away, but came away with a five-set victory over the University of Waterloo Warriors at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday night.

The Lions and Warriors looked evenly matched at the beginning of the first set. There was no clear leader, and both sides made spectacular offensive and defensive plays. However, the Lions began to pull away just before the technical timeout, where the score was 16-13, and this lead continued to grow. The Lions claimed the first set 25-19 and led the match 1-0. More details.

The previous night, the Lions got back to their winning ways with a straight sets victory over the University of Guelph Gryphons. The first set was a close affair in which neither team was able to take a lead bigger than three points. After the Lions led 16-14 at the technical timeout, the Gryphons rallied late in the set to take a late lead at 23-22. But a pair of Guelph errors and a service ace by Andrew Shotbolt pushed the Lions to 25 points, and they took the first set 25-23. More details.

Women’s volleyball Lions come back to defeat Warriors in five sets

The York University Lions women’s volleyball team erased a 2-1 deficit to defeat the visiting University of Waterloo Warriors in five sets at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday night.

At the beginning of the first set, the Lions were caught off-guard by the Warriors’ energy as they rapidly accumulated points. The Lions were able to start bouncing back after a kill by Melissa Smillie, and the rest of the team used this momentum to continue to climb the scoreboard. Kayla Clennon entered the set and delivered a kill that temporarily tied the score 7-7. The Lions stepped up their defensive game and took turns diving across the court to keep the ball in play. They took the lead after the 10th point, and after some nerve-wracking moments where the Warriors came close to overtaking the Lions, the Lions won the set 25-22. More details.

On Friday night, the Lions defeated the University of Guelph Gryphons in four sets. They raced out to a fast lead in the first set and were up 12-4 early and 16-10 at the technical timeout. They continued to roll in the latter half of the set and took it 25-15 for the early 1-0 advantage. More details.

Wrestlers Town and Chan win medals at annual York Open meet

A pair of York University Lions wrestlers won medals at the annual York Open meet at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday.

Alexandria Town made a triumphant return to her home meet after missing last year with an injury, winning the gold medal in the women’s 59kg weight class.

Also earning a place on the podium at the home meet was rookie Christine Chan, who captured the bronze medal in the women’s 48kg weight class. She won two of her four round-robin matches to finish in third place. More details.

Gardiner scores game winner against Lancers with five seconds to spare

Rookie forward Courtney Gardiner scored the game-winning goal with five seconds remaining on the clock to give the York University Lions women’s hockey team a 3-2 victory over the University of Windsor Lancers at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday afternoon. Gardiner’s tally, her second of the season, gave the Lions their third victory of the season as their record improved to 3-0-6-1.

Both teams battled hard right from the start, but neither were able to get the puck in the net. This was finally broken by Brooke Anderson when she scored the first goal of the game at 7:47, giving the Lions an early lead. More details.

On Sunday, the Lions were defeated by the University of Waterloo Warriors by a score of 1-0 on the road. Tegan Odland found the back of the net just 2:23 after the opening whistle to give the Warriors the lead. That proved to be the only goal of the game as both goalies stood tall for the rest of the game. More details.

Men’s hockey Lions let third-period lead slip away in loss to Warriors

The No. 7 nationally ranked York University Lions men’ hockey team let a third-period lead slip away in the final five minutes of action in an eventual 6-4 loss to the University of Waterloo Warriors at Columbia Ice Field in Waterloo, Ont.

The two teams traded leads a total of five times in the game. The Lions led 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period after a pair of power play goals by Josh LaFrance and Reid Jackman that were sandwiched around a shorthanded tally by Michael Morgan. More details.

The team’s game against the University of Windsor Lancers on Saturday afternoon played out in similar fashion, with the Lancers scoring four times in the third period to take the victory. The first period saw a lot of action. The first goal of the game was scored within the first minute by Trevor Petersen. Windsor followed up with a goal of their own at 7:19.

A few minutes later, the Lions took the puck back and LaFrance added another goal, bringing the score at the end of the period to 2-1 in favour of the Lions. More details.

Men’s basketball Lions drop road contest to Warriors

The York University Lions men’s basketball team was handed a 77-66 defeat by the University of Waterloo Warriors at the Physical Activities Complex in Waterloo, Ont., on Saturday night.

Shooting struggles behind the arc proved to be the difference, as the Lions shot just 16.2 per cent from three, compared to 33.3 per cent by the Warriors. The first quarter was a tight, low-scoring affair in which the home squad held a one-point advantage, at 15-14, after the opening 10 minutes. More details.

Against the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks the previous night, the Lions had a difficult first quarter and could not recover en route to an 87-75 loss. Laurier raced to a 24-16 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. The second quarter was a much tighter, high-scoring affair that saw 49 points added to the scoreboard, and the Hawks stretched their lead to nine at 49-40 at the half. More details.