LONDON, Ont. – The future looks bright for the backcourt of the Gryphons women's basketball team. On Wednesday night in London, U of G standout rookie point guard, Burke Bechard, produced the best performance of her young career, pouring in a game-high 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Unfortunately for Bechard and the Gryphons, it would come in a losing cause as the Gryphons were ultimately undone by a lackluster fourth quarter en route to a 64-58 road loss to the Western Mustangs. With the result, the Gryphons fall to 6-9 on the season while Western improves to 8-7.
 
The Gryphons put themselves in good position to pick up a road win, leading by four heading to the final quarter, thanks in large part to a dominating second quarter in which they limited Western to just eight points. The host Mustangs would flip the script however in the final quarter, outscoring Guelph 19-9, including a 14-0 run, led by Western's senior guard Mackenzie Puklicz as well as their 6-foot-1, third year forward Julia Curran. Puklicz led the way for Western with 18 points while Curran added 16 points to spearhead the Mustangs' attack.
 
"In the fourth quarter, our team defence just wasn't where it needed to be and we struggled offensively as well late in the game," said Gryphons head coach Mark Walton.
 
Not to be overshadowed by the disappointing finish was some terrific play from first year guard Burke Bechard. The Dover Centre native, who grew up an hour's drive from Western and played JUEL basketball with the London Ramblers prior to becoming a Gryphon, was the best player on the court for much of the night, connecting from beyond the arc on three separate occasions while also leading the way defensively and playing all 40 minutes of the ball game. "Burke has been very consistent all year," added Walton. "She has made some great plays and has shown an elevated level of toughness."
 
The Gryphons also got a nice scoring boost from fourth year guard Megan Brenkel, who came off the bench to score 12 points on 5-8 shooting.
 
The Gryphons will now look to rebound from Wednesday night's loss when they return home to U of G for a rare Friday night game at the GGAC. The Brock Badgers (5-9) will pay a visit to the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre on Friday for the first game of a home-and-home series, with Guelph set to travel to St. Catharines on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Friday night's game tips at 6pm and can be seen live online at oua.tv.