Box Score GUELPH, Ont. – There were moments when the Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team looked on par with its nationally-ranked opponent. But the depleted Gryphons ultimately fell 86-69 to the No. 4 Ottawa Gee-Gees Friday night at the GGAC.
 
Fourth-year guard Sarah Holmes led with 20 points, while second-year guard Burke Bechard added 15, with 8 rebounds and 3 steals.
 
Guelph, missing key personnel like point guard Skyla Minaker and post player Ashley Wheeler, hung with the tough Gee-Gees for the first half but Ottawa showed its class in the decisive third quarter. The Gee-Gees had an early 8-0 run for a 51-43 lead in the third, including two three-pointers from Sarah Besselink, who finished with a game-high 29 points. The fifth-year guard was on fire, burying six of her nine attempts from beyond the arc.
 

Ottawa then closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to push the margin up to 67-49. Guelph just couldn't string together baskets or make stops and was outscored 26-9 in the third.
 
Ottawa's offence was tough to stop early but the Gryphons gave the visitors some fits with a combination of good defensive pressure and several backdoor cuts at the other end of the court that led to easy baskets. Modupe Okeowo gave Guelph a big lift by burying a three-pointer at the buzzer to get the hosts within three at 20-17 to end the first quarter.
 
The Gryphons continued to surge in the second quarter, going on a 7-0 run capped by a Bechard three-pointer to take a 30-27 lead. Ottawa responded with its own 10-2 run, including back-to-back makes from long range though Guelph battled to head into the half down 41-40.
 
Minaker was close to being cleared but with the final two games before the break this weekend and exams approaching, the Gryphon staff opted to keep her out until the new year.

 
 
Gryphon Take
"You can't play a team that's ranked top-5 in the country and have the kind of third quarter we had. That's the difference in the game. We changed defences in the fourth quarter and made them turn it over a lot but we couldn't come down and score at the other end. Combining those two things, it really hurts you, at one end or the other."
 
"We certainly miss Skyla setting the table. It hurts us. She's certainly our sparkplug, leader and IQ on the floor. When we have that, it's very good. When you don't, that's why you have a qurter like that."– head coach Mark Walton

 
The Record
Guelph is 4-5.

 
Next up
Carleton, Sunday, Dec. 2, 1 pm @ Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre