Box Score
The Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team toppled the Lakehead Thunderwolves 82-58 tonight (Feb.1) at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. The win propels them to a 6-10 record and drops the Thunderwolves to a matching 6-10.
 
Kayla Goodhoofd (Oakville, ON) led all scorers on the night with 19 points. She was followed closely behind by Jasmine Douglas (Guelph, ON) who chipped in with 15 points and an additional eight rebounds. 
 
Kelsey Bardsley (Manchester, England) led the Thunderwolves' offence with 17 points.
 
The Gryphons came out firing off the tip-off to jump ahead with an early 8-3 lead. Kayla Goodhoofd established a strong presence under the Thunderwolves net to swallow two offensive rebounds for points to extend the lead to 13-9. However the early cohesiveness from the Gryphons on both sides of the ball was unable to carry the lead into the second as Lakehead's attack from the arc prevailed to push them ahead 23-19.
  At the start of the second quarter, an early steal from Marlee Freeman (Orillia, ON) re-established the strong defensive pressure seen early in the first. Lakehead was quick to mirror the Gryphons shift in play to keep both teams off the scoreboard for the first two minutes of the second.  As the clock struck 7:45 however, Jasmine Douglas split the defence. Freeman complimented the attack to pull ahead by one to win back the Gryphon lead. After outshooting the Thunderwolves 19-8 in the second, the Gryphons were able to mount a 38-31 lead going into halftime.
 
In the third, once again, Goodhoofd opened the quarter with consecutive baskets to boost the Gryphon lead. Building off her momentum, the Gryphons began to click on both sides of the ball as they stretched their lead to 50-36 after allowing only five Lakehead points in the first half of the third.  However, the Thunderwolves found an offensive rhythm late in the third as they hit five three's in nine attempts to close the gap to six. But a late response from Dana Van Balkom (Hamilton, ON) gave the Gryphons the momentum as they headed into the final frame ahead 59-50.
 
After making a strong drive to the net, Alyssa Shortt (Waterloo, ON) was fouled early in the fourth and was forced to leave the game with an injury. Kate MacTavish (Waterloo, ON) was good on both shots after the foul to preserve the Gryphon lead. Van Balkom continued her attack from the arc by shooting 2-2 to stretch the lead to 17. The Gryphon surge continued for the remainder of the quarter to end the night at 83-58.
 
The Gryphons hope to replicate their success tonight as they meet the Thunderwolves again to complete their double-header tomorrow (Feb.2). Tip-off is set for 6:00 pm at the W.F. Mitchell Centre.