GUELPH, Ont. – Wednesday night at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, the Gryphons women's basketball team suffered a 75-62 loss to the visiting Ryerson Rams. With the result, the Gryphons fall to 2-4 on the season while Ryerson improves to 4-2.
 
Containing Ryerson's Sofia Paska is a challenge that many OUA teams have struggled to deal with for the past several years. On Wednesday night, the Gryphons put together a strong defensive effort against Paska and the Rams, forcing Ryerson into 28 turnovers on the night. But in the end, it was the Rams who were able to pull away in the 2nd half thanks in large part to the play of their 6-foot-4 senior forward. Sofia Paska scored 28 points to go along with 13 rebounds to help lead Ryerson to a 13-point victory. Paska, an OUA First Team All-Star a year ago, was 11-18 from the field in 31 minutes of floor time.
 
The length of the Rams proved to be an issue for the Gryphons, who were out-rebounded 49-29 on the evening. However, impressive performances from rookie Burke Bechard (15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) and third year forward Ashley Wheeler (15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) helped the Gryphons go toe-to-toe with the perennial power Rams, who were crowned OUA champions two seasons ago.
 
Very little separated the Gryphons and Rams for most of the night, but mini 7-0 and 8-0 runs by the Rams in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, respectively, helped the visitors leave Guelph with the victory.
 
"At times, we did a lot of really good things, both offensively and defensively," said Gryphons head coach Mark Walton. "We've been consistently forcing teams to turn the ball over this season. Now it's just a matter of finding some more consistency in terms of execution on the offensive end. If we can do that, we'll be fine."
 
The Gryphons shot 32% from the floor (compared to 45% by Ryerson), but were able to lock down the Rams on the perimeter, limiting Ryerson to just 2-15 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
Third year guard Ivana Vujadinovic provided a nice spark off the bench for the Gryphons, scoring 9 points to with 3 steals. Fourth year guard Haley Belyk finished with a team-high 4 steals while rookie point guard Skyla Minaker had a team-high 5 assists to go along with 6 points and 5 rebounds.
 
The Gryphons (2-4) will now prepare to host the University of Toronto Varsity Blues (2-3) on Saturday afternoon with tip set for 1pm.