The Windsor Lancer women's basketball team came up short in their 2024 preview against the Waterloo Warriors (62-41) and Guelph Gryphons (68-61).

FRIDAY STATS
Lancers shot 25.9% from the floor and 58.3% from the charity line. Kali Grootenboer had a solid showing for the blue and gold, putting away 11 points on the night. Mya Iriah and Vanessa Budimunda were also key contributors to the offensive effort, tallying 7 and 8 points respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED FRIDAY
On Friday, the blue and gold hosted the Waterloo Warriors for their 2024 debut. To kick off the night, fans saw the Warriors lead by 8 by the end of the first quarter. In the second, Waterloo managed to maintain their early lead, leading 29-21 at halftime.
The second half of the game saw Lancers with a valiant effort to make up ground, but ultimately the Warriors found greater success on the floor to outscore the blue and gold 62-41.

SATURDAY STATS
Windsor outpaced Guelph in Saturday night's matchup, outshooting the Gryphons 41.2% over 33.3% from the field and 37.5% over 16.7% from the 3-point arc. Guelph managed to edge out the blue and gold at the free throw line, however, shooting 78.6% over Windsor's 61.9%.
Starters Mariame Dehkissia and Julia Chiarot were both in double figures, earning 16 and 12 points respectively. Kali Grootenboer had a standout defensive performance in the paint, securing 8 defensive rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED SATURDAY
The stats and score appear paradoxical; despite Windsor's ongoing field goal and 3-point percentages being more favourable than Guelph's, the blue and gold faced an uphill battle in trying to make up ground from an 8-point deficit after the first quarter. Approaching halftime with a 33-43 score, the Lancers looked to the second half of the game to bridge the gap.

After going point-for-point with the Gryphons in the third, Guelph's Renee Armstrong made a 2-point buzzer beater to make the quarter's total 13-11. However, in the final frame the Lancers turned up the heat with Mariame Dehkissia tallying 5 points. Even though the Lancers outworked the Gryphons 17-12 in the 4th, the blue and gold would ultimately come up short.

UP NEXT
The women return to Windsor next weekend for back-to-back home games against the TMU Bold Friday and Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday, each at 6pm. Tickets for the game are available in advance at goLancers.ca/tickets. For those unable to attend in person at the Toldo Lancer Centre, the game will also be streamed on OUA.tv.
 
Saturday is also Breast Cancer Awareness Day and commemorative t-shirts will be for sale at the game for just $15. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society.