GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team gave the No. 9-ranked team in the country all they could handle for a second straight night. In the end, it wasn't enough to knockoff the visiting Lakehead Thunderwolves, who improved to 11-1 on the season after a 76-64 win over the Gryphons Saturday night in Guelph.
The Gryphons led by nine after one quarter and by three points at the half before the Thunderwolves pulled away in the second half, outscoring Guelph by 15 over the final two quarters.
The fast start by Guelph was thanks in large part to the play of fourth-year forward
Ivana Vujadinovic.
Burke Bechard drives
The Burlington native scored Guelph's final seven points of the opening quarter, highlighted by just her fifth three-pointer of the season, to cap off a strong start for the Gryphons.
The Gryphons' strong play would continue in the second quarter, which was capped off by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from
Sarah Holmes, who scored eight of her 14 points in the opening half of play.
Lakehead would come out strong in the second half however, with Leashja Grant (25 points) and Nikki Ylagan (23 points) leading the way for the Thunderwolves. The two guards were a combined 6-for-10 from beyond the arc in the second half, including a big three by Ylagan with 3:56 remaining in regulation to push the Lakehead lead to 10.
Sophomore guard
Burke Bechard led the Gryphons in scoring and rebounding with 15 points and 9 boards.
Gryphon Take
"We lacked poise and patience down the stretch when we needed it most. Our shot selection in the fourth quarter was poor and you have to put together four good quarters of basketball if you want to beat the top teams in the league." ~
head coach Mark Walton
The Record
Guelph is 4-8
Next up
@ Waterloo Warriors – Wednesday, Jan. 9 (7pm)
