First year bench boss Eddie Lopez picked up his first career OUA win on Friday night at the PAC as the Warriors topped the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs 64-45. The Warriors outscored the visitors 21-10 in the final quarter to cruise to the 19 point victory.

Waterloo shot 32.4% from the field compared to a lowly 22.2% by the Voyageurs. Waterloo also hit six from beyond the arc compared to just one from Laurentian, and won the rebounding battle with 42 boards to Laurentian's 34.

"As a group, we were able to set the tone from the beginning and execute some of the things we talked about in our preparation: rebounding and being resilient throughout the game," said Lopez.

"I was proud of them, our players deserve all the credit last night with their efforts and attention to details."

The win came at cost however as second year star point guard and reigning OUA rookie of the year Kaitlyn Overeem (Brantford/) went down with a knee injury late in the third quarter. Overeem finished with 11 points, four assists and three boards.

"It's a big loss for our team. She drives our offence and is a force on the defensive side of the ball. We just hope it's not as serious as it initially looked and hope she can have a speedy recovery," mentioned Lopez. 

Stepping up in Overeem's absence was Beth Howlett (Burlington/) who had a big second half scoring all of her team high 16 points in the final 20 minutes. Howlett shot 6-for-11 from the field with three 3-pointers while adding three rebounds and one assists. Meghan Sharp (Kitchener/) had eight points and three steals in a solid game for her. On the glass, Aphia Ward (Beaumont, AB/) led the way with eight rebounds.

For Laurentian it was Kayla Deschatelets scoring half their teams points with a game high 23.

Waterloo is back in action tonight against Nipissing at 6pm in the PAC.