GUELPH, ON - The Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team has a saying posted on their dressing room wall -- "Win or Learn, Never Lose." They learned plenty Wednesday night against one of the top teams in the country. The Gryphons dug a hole early and the Ryerson Rams never let them out. The Rams, ranked No. 4 in the CIS, used a blend of suffocating defensive pressure and a high-octane offence to beat Guelph 77-54 Wednesday night at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre.

They were two of the hottest teams in the OUA. The Gryphons had won three straight heading into the night and the big, athletic Rams -- averaging a league-high 83 points per game -- extended their streak to six games with a dominant performance.

 "We believe in never quitting," said head coach Christin Dickenson, pleased with the effort her team had in the second half. "When we realized we could play with them, we competed."

Bridget Atkinson scored a team-high 12 points and added a game-high 11 rebounds for Guelph (9-7), while Katelyn Yallin chipped in 11. Dana Van Balkom played hard and scored 8 points to go along with 4 assists before fouling out in the fourth.

The Gryphons trailed 42-25 at the half but stepped up the pace to start the third quarter. Van Balkom got them going with two straight lefty layups and Guelph looked far more intense than in the opening two quarters.

But Ryerson (13-3) always had answers. And the Gryphons had a hard time whittling away the lead, in part because of a poor shooting night. The hosts hit just 18 of 77 from the field (23.4 per cent). Veteran forward Kate MacTavish couldn't get it going either, finishing with 8 points on 3 of 16 shooting.  

The Rams set the tempo by pressing the Gryphons, who handled it early but got sloppier as the first quarter went on. A Yallin layup got Guelph to within a point at 13-12. But Rams went on a 9-0 run late, producing numerous turnovers and making it tough for the hosts to get past the half-court line.

"We hung with them for a while but they went on a run and we were unable to answer," said Dickenson.

Keneca Pingue-Giles, the OUA's leading scorer entering the night (19.1 ppg), proved to be a tough matchup for Guelph as the fifth-year Masters student from Winnipeg scored a game-high 20 points. Pingue-Giles had 15 in the first half alone and did her damage all over the court, be it off the drive, beyond the arc or at the free throw line.

Ryerson's 6-4 forward Sofia Paska, the third leading rebounder in the OUA (9.5), scored 17 points with 9 boards. Silvana Jez added 11 points.

The Gryphons had 12 turnovers in the first half and 18 in total.

Dickenson said the team will put this one behind them. As the end of the OUA regular season approaches, the Gryphons have already locked up a playoff spot so the goal is to finish well.

"We have to flip the switch," the coach said. "We have our last game ever in the Mitchell Centre coming up. It's a special time, especially for the five seniors in our program."