HAMILTON, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team, seeded No. 6 in the 2023 OUA playoffs, gave the No. 3-seeded McMaster Marauders all they could handle on Saturday afternoon in Hamilton in a hard-fought OUA quarterfinal showdown at Burridge Gymnasium. There was little to separate the two sides throughout the game, but in the end, it would be the host Marauders pulling away late to advance to the OUA Final Four and ending Guelph's 2022-23 season.
With the score tied at 61-61 and just under three minutes remaining the in the 4th quarter, McMaster would end the game on a 9-2 run to earn a 70-63 victory over the Gryphons.
McMaster was led by their standout, fifth-year guard, Sarah Gates, who finished the game with 29 points on 11-of-22 shooting. Gates accounted for two of McMaster's buckets down the stretch, while also coming up with a block and outlet pass to teammate Jenna Button for a lay in to seal the win. Overall, the Gryphons stood tall defensively against the top offensive player in the country. McMaster's Sarah Gates entered Saturday's game as the leading scorer in U SPORTS women's basketball, averaging 27.3 points per game on the season. But the Gryphons were up to challenge, contesting shot attempts and limiting the sharp-shooting Gates to just 1-of-8 from three-point range on the day. As a team, the Gryphons were able to frustrate the Marauders all day from beyond the arc. McMaster, who entered the game with the most made-three pointers in the country this season (215), finished the game just 6-of-33 from beyond the arc against the Gryphons.
On the offensive end, the Gryphons were led by senior guard
Natalie Vigna, with the fifth-year Ancaster native pouring in a team-high 21 points for the Gryphs while going 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Vigna was one of three Gryphons to score in double figures, with
Julia Colavecchia adding 15 points and
MacKeely Shantz finishing with 10 points. Unfortunately for the Gryphons, they were unable to convert on the offensive end down the stretch against a stingy Marauder defence.
The Marauders are now off to the OUA Final Four, and will await the winner of Carleton/TMU. The Gryphons meanwhile continue to make themselves a fixture in the OUA women's basketball playoff picture, with Guelph having now advanced to the OUA quarterfinal stage in three of the past four seasons.
