GUELPH, Ont. – Wednesday night at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphons women's basketball team found themselves locked in a roller coaster of an affair with the visiting Brock Badgers. Fortunately for the hosts, the roller coaster ended on a high.
After a tight opening half saw Guelph take a four-point lead into the locker room, the third quarter would belong to the Badgers, who outscored Guelph 30-11 to take a commanding 15-point lead to the final quarter. That's when Guelph would flip the script, thanks in part to some added motivation from their head coach.
Following a sluggish start to the second half, Gryphons head coach
Mark Walton sent a clear message to his players early in the third quarter, substituting all five starters after a 12-5 run by Brock gave the Badgers a 43-40 lead. Brock's lead would grow to 11 before the starters were brought back into the game with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter. The Gryphon starters would lead the comeback from there, dominating the final period, opening the fourth quarter on a 20-1 run to turn what was once a 15-point deficit into a 66-62 lead in the span of just over seven minutes.
Gryphons head coach Mark Walton addresses his team during a timeout
Guelph would go on to outscore Brock 31-10 in the final quarter, securing a much-needed 77-71 victory. The 31 points scored in the fourth is the most points scored by the Gryphons in any quarter this season.
Down the stretch, the Gryphons used a combination of good defence and clutch free throw shooting to end any hopes of a Brock comeback. Gryphons sophomore guard
Burke Bechard led the way in a balanced Guelph attack, finishing just three assists shy of a triple double (19 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists). Second-year point guard
Skyla Minaker was one point away from matching her season-high with 16 points, while
Modupe Okeowo and
Ivana Vujadinovic provided leadership in the front court, with each player finishing with 15 points on the night. As a team, the Gryphons recorded a season-high 19 assists. The visiting Badgers were led by sophomore guard Kristin Gallant and rookie guard Melissa Tatti, who were the only Brock players to score in double figures with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
With the win, the Gryphons snap a seven-game losing streak and improve to 5-10 on the season, good for fifth-place in the OUA West standings. The Gryphons also snap Brock's four-game winning streak and complete a season sweep over the fourth-place Badgers (7-8) after having also won versus Brock back on October 27 in St. Catharines.
The Gryphons will now play each of their next five games on the road, beginning with a Saturday night trip to London to take on the Western Mustangs (3-11).
Gryphon Take
"Early in that third quarter we were just sort of going through the motions and weren't playing very hard. We challenged our starters tonight and they showed some great character to fight back and rally around each other. I'm really proud of how they responded.
90 percent of the time in this league, if you don't play hard, you don't win. But they did the little things late in the game to make the difference. Skyla (Minaker) got to the free throw line. Burke (Bechard) was great. Ivana (Vujadinovic) was so tough for us tonight and hit shots when she had to. It was a great team win." ~
head coach Mark Walton
The Record:
Guelph is 5-10
Up Next:
@ Western Mustangs – Saturday, Jan. 19 (6pm)
