GUELPH, Ont. – Wednesday night in their regular season home opener, the Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team used a dominant defensive performance to a pick up a convincing 73-54 victory over the visiting York Lions at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. The Gryphons, who forced a season-high 31 turnovers on the night, blew things wide open in the third quarter, outscoring York 21-9. Fourth year guard
Megan Brenkel led all scorers with 22 points and helped lead the Gryphons to a second consecutive win following the team's road win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees last weekend in the nation's capital. With Wednesday night's result, the Gryphons now sit at 2-3 on the young season while the Lions fall to 1-3.
"It was a great defensive team effort tonight," said Gryphons head coach
Mark Walton.
Haley Belyk drives vs York
"That run that we went on in the 3rd was driven entirely by what we were able to do defensively, with 12 of the 31 turnovers we forced coming in that quarter. It was great to see the level of intensity we had on that side of the ball."
Helping lead the way defensively was rookie guard
Skyla Minaker who finished with a team-high 5 steals.
Burke Bechard and
Haley Belyk were causing the Lions fits throughout the night, constantly getting a hand in the passing lanes while senior forward
Quincy Sickles-Jarvis came off the bench to provide a spark with her defensive energy.
The Gryphons were able to cap off the third quarter in style when Brenkel knocked down a three pointer at the buzzer to provide an exclamation point on the 21-9 run.
Gryphs celebrate Megan Brenkel's 3-pointer in late 3rd qtr
Brenkel finished the night an efficient 7-13 from the floor and 3-4 from beyond the arc. "Megan showed great poise tonight and made really good decisions offensively all night long," said Walton. "She attacked when we needed her to, and she made a number of shots under pressure."
The Gryphons as a team shot 40% from the field and also knocked down 7 triples. Rookie guard Burke Bechard scored 14 points, while third year guard
Sarah Holmes (Welland, ON) just missed a double-double, finishing with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
The Gryphons will next be in action on Wednesday, Nov. 15 when they host the Ryerson Rams (2-2). Game time is set for 6pm at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre and can be seen live online at oua.tv.
