GUELPH, Ont. – Right from the opening tip-off, the Guelph Gryphons were ready to roll Wednesday night at the GGAC. In an early season battle of unbeaten teams, the Gryphons (3-0) made quick work of the visiting McMaster Marauders (2-1) rolling to an 82-54 victory.
 
Exacting a little bit of revenge for their playoff exit to McMaster in 2019-20 on the same court, the Gryphons, led by 4^th-year guard Burke Bechard, took control of the contest from the very beginning and never looked back.
 
Pouring in 18 points, Bechard led all scorers in the contest, and was one of seven Gryphons to score at least eight points in the game.
 
Not even halfway through the opening quarter, the Gryphons quickly built themselves a double-digit lead going up 15-4. From there, the two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the opening frame before Guelph ultimately took a 22-11 advantage as the buzzer sounded.
 
As the second quarter played out, it was more of the same from the home team. Forcing McMaster into all kinds of turnovers with aggressive defensive play, the Gryphons were able to transition those into quick points getting their lead all the way up to 25 before a brief Marauder's push trimmed the Guelph advantage to 49-27 at the half.
 
Continuing to maintain a lead of at least 20 points throughout the entire second half, Guelph was able to once again get some younger players in during the second half for valuable playing time. In the end a late jump shot from Julia Colavecchia pushed the lead to a game-high 29 points for the Gryphons, before McMaster rounded out the scoring with a free throw. Over the final two and a half minutes, neither side added to their tally as the score rounded out 82-54 in favour of Guelph.
 
Along with her 18 points, Bechard also recorded eight rebounds and three steals. Tying for the team lead in rebounds, Colavecchia also had eight. Both recording three assists, Skyla Minaker and Natalie Vigna tied for the team lead.
 
From the field, the Gryphons shot 40.8% while also knocking down 10 of 24 three point attempts. Defensively, the Gryphons held McMaster to just 30.3% from the field. Guelph was also able to out-rebound the Marauders on the offensive glass 18-8, leading to 20 second chance points.
 
Now a perfect 3-0 to start the 2021 regular season, the Gryphons will try to make it four straight victories when they head to Hamilton on Saturday for a second contest against McMaster.