One of the biggest recruiting classes in the OUA, the Laurentian Voyageurs retooled and they enter 2025 with a veteran group to send off and a young group to get kickstarted.
A 7-15 season in 2024 with a playoff loss to the Brock Badgers sent the Voyageurs into the offseason looking to build on areas of improvement. How will this team have to play to get improvement? Let's break down their roster and a few key pieces.
Laurentian over the last two years has went through a transition you've seen other teams in the league go through, but maybe to a larger extent. You look at the Voyageurs teams just a few years ago, they played through the paint and establishing their offence around the rim.
They played a physical downhill style of basketball. Three of their four leading scorers in the 2022 season were forwards and they had seven players who were six feet tall or higher.
You contrast that to last year with four players of that height and three of their four leading scorers being guards, they've transitioned to more of a small ball style that you see across the league, and they have the players to do so.
Now they enter 2025 with their power being their guard depth, and their opportunity being their screen game to work open shooters.
You look at players like Cadence Pecore who burst out in her rookie year as a prolific scorer who can put the ball on the ground and get to wherever she needs to on the court to facilitate the offence.
They brought back Megan Axiak one of their best shooters for her senior season, Audrey-Ann Labreche to run the point alongside Cadence, and Molly Adams to play off the ball among others, and they seemingly can attack you in many different ways from the perimeter.
While still keeping what they've always had, scoring from inside the paint with Emilie Lafond who they often look to establish early in games, they've shifted towards a team who can play through their guards more and more.
You play a pick and roll with Cadence and Emilie, you swing with Molly and Audrey with Jemaya Chinyelugo or Cadence in a smaller lineup, you play drive-and-kick with any of their guards and Megan standing in the corner ready to pop, their guards have elevated to a point where they can really dissect you.
Going into 2025 Laurentian has to lean into that multi-faceted guard group that they have, similar to what teams like Windsor have done, and beat teams with their constant movement and attack. We've seen last year that they can play with pace and get downhill fast with their guards, and that will be the key to their success.
Forcing turnovers and getting up the court quickly, getting swing passes and playing off the catch, keeping defences moving at all times. They've reinforced their roster especially at the guard spot and they need to fully embrace their strength which to me is giving teams a headache trying to keep up.