WATERLOO, Ont. – The Golden Hawks put up a fight on Saturday, coming all the way back from a 14-point deficit, but couldn't win the battle as they dropped their second in a row to the Waterloo Warriors, 70-65.

Entering their first home game of 2024 looking to bounce back from their mid-week loss to their local rivals, the Golden Hawks Hirtle found themselves in control early, with the team's scoring leader Cassidy Hirtle netting six of the team's first eight points to start the game. 

Waterloo's Summer Pahl heated up in the second part of the frame though, posting seven of her own to help Waterloo keep it at just a one-possession deficit after the opening ten minutes.

The Warriors opened things up even further in the second, at one point leading by as many as 12, thanks to shooting 45% from the field - compared to Laurier's 33% - and scoring 11 points off of seven Golden Hawk turnovers. 

The Golden Hawks would respond coming out of the halftime break with a renewed focus on their defensive effort, which fourth-year forward Maddy White spoke about post-game as something "we were focusing on making sure we worked hard on and played together. I think we did do very well today." 

White led by example, matching a team-high with four of her five rebounds on the day coming on the defensive end. She also didn't shy away from contact, earning her the most trips of any Golden Hawk to the free-throw line, going 5 for 7 from the charity stripe.

With Miranda Campbell and Alexa Sawchuk combining for ten points and another nine by way of Hirtle, who finished with a game and season-high 28 points, Laurier overcame a 14-point deficit by going on a 15-1 run. They also held Waterloo to its lowest-scoring quarter, as they took a two-point lead heading into the fourth.

The good times kept rolling for Laurier ... but for only about five minutes. Laurier built up their biggest lead of the game (six points), but saw it evaporate and then overtaken when Ghiselle Poblette scored three of her team-high 17 points on a clutch three with 5:16 to go.

Waterloo would build on that one-point lead to nine until there was 1:30 left, at which point Laurier simply ran out of time before conceding the game and season series to the Warriors. 

With the loss, Laurier dropped to 7-6 and into a tie for third in the OUA West with the Western Mustangs. It also marked the seventh straight defeat to the Warriors, but just the second time this season (since the opening two games) that they have lost consecutive games.

Despite the latest defeats, Hirtle's performances in the past two games were good enough to see her crack the top 10 in all-time career points scored by a Golden Hawk. She passed Jill Condron to move into the 8th spot with 739 in just 50 games. 

Kerri Jilesen, who is currently an assistant coach with the team, is the next alum to catch with 786 career points.

Up Next

The Golden Hawks return to their home court this Saturday, January 20, at 6:00 pm to take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves (4-10) for the annual Shoot for the Cure game. Tickets are on sale now! 

If you can't make it in person, catch the live stream at OUA.tv or follow along on X at @WLUAthletics.