GUELPH, Ont. - The 3rd-place Gryphons women's basketball team hosted the 6th-place Laurier Golden Hawks at the Gryphons Athletics Centre Wednesday evening (March 2), looking to build on a four-game winning streak, and they did just that, with assertion. The team had a dominant weekend, winning both of their matchups over the Algoma Thunderbirds, and came into the game against Laurier with no shortage of confidence, beating the Golden Hawks 101-56, defending home court and extending their win streak to five.
It was a milestone night for 5th-year guard
Burke Bechard as she went into Wednesday's game needing only six points to reach the 1,000 career point plateau. Most expected she would reach the feat in this game without any difficulty, as she has been averaging 16 points per game so far this season. Sure enough, Bechard hit the milestone with a 3-pointer just after the 6:00 minute mark of the 2nd quarter, earning a standing ovation from the crowd as her milestone was announced.
Bechard becomes just the third Gryphons women's basketball player ever to reach the 1,000 point mark, following in the footsteps of Kate MacTavish (2011-2016) who scored 1,200 career points and Pat Marcello (1997-2001) who scored 1,075 career points. Bechard now sits at 1,009 career points with 3 games remaining in the regular season.
The Gryphons were strong out of the gate and maintained the lead throughout basically the entire 1st quarter, heading into the second with a 26-17 lead. They carried this momentum into the next 10 minutes, starting the second quarter off with an 8-0 run led by some strong defense that included
Burke Bechard drawing a charging call. The rest of the first half brought much of the same as the Gryphons outscored Laurier 23-11 in the second quarter, carrying a 19-point cushion into the locker room at halftime.
Opening up the second half, the Gryphons showed no signs of slowing down, once again kicking the quarter off with an 8-0 run, and playing an extremely well-rounded team game that saw 5 Gryphons players with 12 or more points.
The team continued to build on their lead and cruised into the 4th quarter with a spacious 79-44 lead. However, the Gryphons did not get comfortable. They kept their foot on the gas until the very end of the game, when
MacKeely Shantz hit a 3 pointer in the last minute to put the Gryphons over the 100 point mark for the first time this season.
Mackeely Shantz and
Burke Bechard both finished the game with double doubles. Shantz had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while the star of the night,
Burke Bechard had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Natalie Vigna and
Renee Armstrong also contributed 15 points each in the win. Cassidy Hirtle led the way for Laurier with 13 points, while Emmanuelle Felix had 11 points and 8 rebounds.
The Gryphons and Golden Hawks will tip off against each other again on Friday, this time in Waterloo, as the Gryphons look to keep their win streak alive.
