Lancers set to host OUA Women's Final Four

The CIS No. 1-ranked and four-time defending national champion Windsor Lancers are looking for their third consecutive OUA title as they host the No. 7-ranked Ryerson Rams, No. 9-ranked Lakehead Thunderwolves, and Queen's Gaels in the OUA Women's Basketball Final Four taking place March 6-7.

The Lancers rolled to a 19-1 record and once again enter the post-season as the team to beat. Windsor has won five of the past six OUA championships, and is also looking to become just the second team in CIS history to win five consecutive national titles, a feat that has only been accomplished by the Laurentian Voyageurs from 1975-79.

Windsor had a perfect 3-0 record this year against the three remaining OUA teams, and is led by guard Korissa Williams, who finished second in the conference with 19.3 points per game, and had a game-high 20 points and seven steals in Windsor's 64-49 quarter-finals win against Toronto. For secondary scoring, the team will look to forward Cheyanne Roger, who averaged 12.2 points in the regular season.

Of the remaining teams, the Ryerson Rams came the closest to knocking off the top-seeded Lancers, losing 77-74 at home on Nov. 15. The Rams lost only two more games the entire regular season, and enter championship weekend on an 11-game winning streak that dates back to Jan. 7.

Guard Keneca Pingue-Giles is Ryerson's top scoring option after leading the team and finishing fourth in conference averaging 17.5 points per game. She also led the team with 20 points in the Rams 73-47 quarter-final win against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Guard Silvana Jez scored 11 points and added six rebounds against Ottawa and is relied on heavily by the Rams for rebounding and scoring.

In her second and final season of OUA basketball, Lakehead guard Jylisa Williams put her stamp on the league record books, breaking the OUA single-season and single-game points record, while leading the country with 28.8 points per game. However, what Williams wants most is to lead her team to a championship, something she will have an opportunity to do in the Final Four.

Williams and the Thunderwolves sent a message to everyone when they dominated the No. 8-ranked McMaster Marauders in the OUA quarter-finals, winning 82-49 on the road, and are hoping to carry that momentum to Windsor. Though the Marauders double-teamed Williams for much of the game, she was very successful finding her open teammates and finished with game highs in points (20), rebounds (13), assists (8) and steals (6). Katie Ulakovic shot 5-of-10 from behind the arc and added 16 points in the win for the Thunderwolves.

The Queen's Gaels were the OUA runner-up last season, losing to Windsor in the finals, and came in to the 2014-15 season with high expectations. Despite finishing 11-8 in the regular season, the Gaels seem to be peaking at the right time after knocking off the No. 6-ranked Laurier Golden Hawks in a thrilling double-overtime game in the OUA quarter-finals.

For scoring, the Gaels rely heavily on the combo of Jenny Wright and Liz Boag, the team leaders with 13.8 and 13.1 points per game, respectively. In Queen's comeback double-OT win against Laurier, Wright led the way with 24 points

All four teams in the Final Four are capable of scoring in bunches, with each finishing in the top-five in scoring during the regular season. Windsor led the way with 80.5 points per game, followed by Ryerson (72.8), and Lakehead (71.6), while Queen's held down the fifth-spot in the conference with 71.3 points per game.

Defensively, the Lancers ranked second in the conference while the Rams finished fifth. However, both the Thunderwolves and Gaels will need to buckle down on the defensive side of the ball after ranking seventh and eighth, respectively, in points allowed per game during the regular season.

The tournament begins Friday, March 6 with the first semifinal game between the Windsor Lancers and Lakehead Thunderwolves tipping off at 6 p.m., followed by the Ryerson Rams and Queen's Gaels at 8 p.m.

The two semifinal winners will meet in the OUA Women's Championship game the following day at 6 p.m. All games will take place at the St. Denis Centre at the University of Windsor, and will be broadcast live on OUA.tv.

The OUA champion and runner-up will each receive a berth in the CIS National Championship tournament hosted by Laval University from March 12-15 in Quebec City.