The No. 6 ranked Lancer women's basketball team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 68-65 on Wednesday afternoon in the Clash at the Colosseum at Caesars Windsor. 

With the win Windsor moves to 14-3 on the season and are in first place in the west division, while the Hawks fall to 11-7 and sit in second place. 

 Laurier held a 32-38 lead at halftime but the Lancers' experience shone through in the third quarter as they outscored the visitors 23-15 before hanging on late to come away with the win.

Laurier roared out of the gate against the Lancers as the home team struggled from the field, shooting just 27 percent from the floor in the opening half. Irena Rynkiewicz went for12 points in the opening 20 minutes as she helped Laurier shoot close to 44 percent.
 
Windsor's shooting struggles were accentuated by the loss of starting guard Kayah Clarke, who went down early in the opening quarter with an injury. Starting forward Cheyanne Roger also left the game in the first half but recovered to return for the second half.
 
Needing a spark, the nationally-ranked Lancers received it from their bench, courtesy of Carly Steer of Windsor, Ont. The third guard poured in 12 of Windsor's 23 points in the quarter as they took a lead for the first time since early in the opening quarter.
 
The fourth quarter saw Windsor extend their lead to as many as 11 points until Laurier came back and made it a one-point game late with a jumper from Kaitlyn Schenck.
 
Laurier would get a turnover on the ensuing inbounds play but a three-point attempt from Nicole Morrison fell short and Caitlyn Longmuir iced the game with a pair of free throws.

Emily Prevost led the Lancers with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Carly Steer came off the bench to contribute 17 points. Cheyanne Roger hit double digits with 12 points and 13 rebounds. 

Windsor will head to Waterloo on Saturday afternoon to take on the host Warriors at 1:00pm. The game can be seen live on www.oua.tv.