Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

The Nipissing Lakers’ 2024 season was somewhat lost among the other storylines surrounding OUA women’s basketball. While Carleton was going on their title defence, the mid pack teams were fighting for seeding, the fight for the lower seeds had a team putting together a fight for their first playoff appearance.

In the third season of head coach Rachel Van Woezik, Nipissing assembled a team that would leave everything on the floor playing for each other. A point guard who has the tenacity and the engine unlike many in the league, a group of four seniors who together offered every part of the game and a rotation who all brought energy.

Watching Taryn Gauthier play point guard is watching someone who always has extra to give and the relentless attack of someone who’s never satisfied. The 5’2 second year guard from Timmins Ontario led the Lakers on the floor playing the second most minutes. How she is able to go through contact and add a little finesse where needed signified how the Lakers team played.

Embodying and emphasizing that relentlessness was the group of four of Megan McCarter, Sophie Milner, Katelyn DeCook and Nicole Budd. Presence on the boards, three-point shooting, post moves to finish one on one, the Lakers four gave the lineup some of everything and they were the primary tools Taryn had at her disposal executing the offence and getting stops on the defensive end.

Chantal Piche, a 5’9 guard from London Ontario. Dominique Bouchard, a 5’8 guard from Timmins Ontario. Kennedy Joyce, a 5’7 guard from Kingston Ontario. Ella Bannister, a 6’0 forward from Thorndale Ontario. Some of the names who contributed to a Lakers season that set a precedent.

Every team has an emergence, and in 2024 the season the Lakers had felt like their step forward into a new era of the program. They went from a 3-19 season in 2023 to fighting for a playoff spot up until the second last game of the season. They had a group of veterans who pushed themselves every single game and as a result pushed the program a bit further with every performance.

What coach Rachel is building in North Bay felt like it took a big step forward in 2024. Though the record matched that of two years prior, this team felt like they knew who they were more. They played hard until the final whistle, and they stuck to what their strengths are regardless of what the opponent was throwing at them. They made a statement that they were here and that they’re going to be here, and it is something to build off as they grow and evolve in recruiting this offseason.