Barry Wright
Laura Dally is part of Canadian basketball history.
The Sarnia native was part of our women's national development basketball squad that won silver at the World University Games in South Korea earlier this month.
The lady hoopsters, whose best finish had previously been bronze medals in 1979 and 1991, finished second following a championship game defeat at the hands of the U.S.
Dally and her mates won preliminary round games against Hungary, the host Koreans and Mozambique, before besting the Czech Republic and Russia in the playoffs on their way to the gold medal contest.
“We competed with the Americans,” said the six-foot guard. “Going into the fourth quarter we were only down by three, but then they pulled away.”
Dally is going into her second season at the University of Saskatchewan in September, following a three year career at Western in London.
Under CIS rules, she had to sit out the 2013-14 season as a result of her transfer to the Saskatoon-based school.
“We knew we wanted to medal, so we just took it one game at a time,” Dally said. “It was an amazing feeling to play for Canada.”
The 22-year-old guard came off the bench and averaged about 15 minute per game.
She played just under 12 minutes in the championship game, securing a pair of rebounds in the process.
Michigan State's Aerial Powers led the U.S. with 27 points in the championship contest.
The World University Games is the second largest global sporting event after the Olympic Games in number of countries and athletes competing.
Dally said the atmosphere was intense in South Korea during the ten-day event.
“Many of the athletes there were training for the Olympics in 2020.”
The graduate of John Thrasher's program at Northern Collegiate has returned to Saskatoon to prepare for her final season of eligibility with the Huskies, but is taking time in early August to visit friends and family in Sarnia.
Dally, who had a team high 21 points in both a one-point loss to UBC in the Canada West Conference final and a 12-point loss to those same Thunderbirds in the national semi-finals last season, can't wait to get back on the court.
“I'm really excited,” she said. “I have very high expectations for this team.”