GUELPH, ON – The goose egg is gone.
It didn't go willingly, or quietly, but it's gone.
The Guelph Gryphons got their first win of the 2016-17 OUA women's basketball season, holding off the York Lions 71-62 on Saturday night at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre.
The Lions made a determined charge late in the fourth quarter, trimming a 14-point deficit to only five points with just over a minute left. But
Megan Brenkel iced the game for the Gryphs, making four key free throws in the final 11 seconds.
Brenkel played 38 of 40 minutes for the Gryphs, but she had lots left in the tank as the clock ticked down. She said she's often more tired in practice, where the team works on free throws with a "do or die" drill that forces them to run if they don't make their shots.
"That's prepared me a lot, and our team in general, helping us to be strong when we're tired," said the third-year guard from Thornhill, ON. "We've definitely been prepared, and this win means a lot to us."
It's been a tough first half of the season for the Gryphs, who dropped five straight contests entering Saturday's game. But head coach
Mark Walton pointed out that three of those losses came against top-ranked teams.
He's been seeing improvement, and he said he knew it was only a matter of time before the Gryphs broke through.
"Without question, we've had the toughest draw of any of the OUA schools," he said. "It's baptism by fire for our players. They're so young, and it's very much a rebuilding year, but it's a rebuilding year with expectations, too."
Brenkel and her teammates know this, and they've used those expectations to stay motivated.
"We've had a lot of tough games," she said, "but we've used it as a learning tool, knowing that we're a young team and we have lots of room for growth and lots of potential.
"So we just continue to motivate each other day in and day out, pushing each other through practice and knowing that it's anybody's game to take. We're the underdogs, but we'll just fight every single night until we come out on top."
That was the story on Saturday. The Gryphs led 23-12 after one quarter, but struggled through a second quarter that saw York go on a 14-2 run and get right back into the game. The score was 38-31 at halftime.
Guelph reasserted itself with a strong third quarter, and continued to dominate in the final period. The Gryphs led 67-53 with five minutes left, but the Lions refused to fold and began chipping away, scoring nine straight points before Brenkel put the contest out of reach.
"She's really starting to play aggressively now, and as a point guard you have to be able to do that, to run the show and not step back," Walton said of Brenkel, who scored a game-high 16 points.
He noted that second-year players
Ashley Wheeler and
Sarah Holmes also had strong games. Wheeler picked up 15 points, four assists, four blocks and three steals, while Holmes added 10 points and five assists; they played 40 and 34 minutes, respectively.
"We just rely so heavily on them, because they're our biggest threats," Walton said.
Haley Belyk scored nine points for the Gryphs, now 1-5 in the OUA Central Division, while
Samantha Renshaw added seven.
Ishanaa Seupersadsin scored 16 points for the Lions, who are also now 1-5. They play in the OUA East Division.
This was the Gryphs' final game before the holiday break, and also their last game in the Mitchell Centre. When they return to action in January, it'll be in the new Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre.
"It's going to be amazing. We're extremely excited. Now, the competition is to see who can score the first basket in the new facility," said Brenkel, who can claim to have scored the last basket for a women's team in the Mitchell Centre.
"It's a nice way to send off the old building, and hopefully we'll pick it up from there in the new one," Walton added.
"I think we are continuing to grow and learn. They're not sure yet about some of the stuff I'm trying to get them to do, so it's a learning curve for them and for me, but I think it's starting to get there."
