GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team was in desperate need of a win. It took a while for the Gryphons to heat up but they finished strong in a 75-65 win over the visiting Nipissing Lakers at the GGAC Friday night.
 
Guelph manufactured a huge third quarter and then opened the game up in the decisive fourth to snap a two-game losing streak. Burke Bechard scored a team-high 21 points, while Ivana Vujadinovic added 17 for the Gryphons, who were without injured starting point guard Skyla Minaker. 
 
Sarah Holmes started out ice cold but came up big down the stretch, finishing with 18 points, 16 coming in the second half. The fourth-year guard hit her first three-pointer of the night to tie it at 55-55 and then added another to put the hosts up 62-57. Guelph didn't relinquish the lead after that.
 

The Gryphons were chasing the game throughout the first half and whenever they threatened to get close, Nipissing would hold them off, with Angeline Campbell (21 points) usually knocking down a clutch shot. But it started to turn in the third quarter when Guelph outscored the Lakers 24-12.
 
Bechard got the Nipissing lead down to 8 with 2:45 lead in the third quarter, though Campbell came right down the court and swished another three-pointer to stretch the margin back to 11 at 48-37. Guelph persevered and Vujadinovic scored four straight points before Bechard nailed two more free throws.
 
That's when Holmes heated up and eventually spurred the Gryphons to a 28-17 advantage in the fourth quarter. She hit five free throws in the final 1:26 to ice the game, while Vujadinovic made a couple of her own from the line and added a key basket with under four minutes left to put Guelph up 9.
 
The Gryphons looked like they missed Minaker early as the offence lacked flow. But Guelph trailed just 18-14 after the first quarter, thanks in part to Bechard, who scored 8 of her 10 first-half points in the opening 10 minutes. The second-year guard was 5-for-5 from the floor after 20 minutes of play.
 
The hosts temporarily got into a groove in the second quarter with Modupe Okeowo scoring 5 consecutive points to get the score within 3 at 25-22. But Campbell spurred an 11-1 Lakers run, including 9 straight points on her own, to send the visitors into the half up 36-23.
 
 
 
Gryphon Take
"We needed those three leaders (Bechard, Holmes and Vujadinovic) without Sky to organize things. It was all about our effort being totally different in the second half than it was in the first. It's the Jekyll and Hyde personality we show some times. We finally attacked the basket and got to the foul line in the third quarter. That was non existent in the first half. We forced them to guard us and they didn't have the legs to shoot the ball like they did early. It was nice to get back on our home court and show that poise. Having five on the road was no fun. We're back home and we have to defend our court." – head coach Mark Walton

 
The Record
Guelph is 4-3.

 
Next up
Laurentian, Sunday, Nov 18, 1 pm @ Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre