WATERLOO, Ont. – The playoff-bound Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team continue to climb up the OUA West standings. Sunday afternoon in Waterloo, the Gryphons picked up a convincing 74-56 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks. Guelph shot 50% from the floor in the opening quarter, scoring 25 points to build up a nine-point lead heading ot the 2nd. The Gryphons would hold Laurier to just 12 points in the 2nd quarter to take a 15-point lead into the locker room at the half. After a Laurier surge in the 3rd quarter, the Gryphons would put the game out of reach in the 4th, outscoring the Hawks 20-10 to secure the victory. The game was played at the Manulife Sportsplex at RIM Park with Laurier's regular home court currently undergoing repairs after suffering water damage. With the win, the Gryphons (12-10) guarantee themselves a finish of no worse than 5th in the OUA West standings (top six make playoffs). With two games still remaining on the regular season schedule, the Gryphons have the chance to finish 4th, which would mean they would be hosting an opening round playoff game.
"We got off to a great start today and received a lot of production from our bench," said Gryphons head coach
Mark Walton. "Our shot selection was terrific and our defence was outstanding throughout."
Helping lead the way for the Gryphons defensively was fourth year guard
Haley Belyk as well as rookie guard
Burke Bechard. The two guards took turns trying to contain one of the OUA's top scorers in Laurier's fifth year guard Nicole Morrison. And they did more than just contain her. They held her to her worst offensive outing of the season. Morrison came into the game as the 3rd-leading scorer in the conference, averaging just under 20 points per game (19.6). Belyk and Bechard combined to limit her to a season-low in made field goals. Morrison finished the day just 1-of-19 shooting from the floor.
On the offensive end, the Gryphons were led by third year forward
Ashley Wheeler. The Stratford native came off the bench and poured in a team-high 16 points on 6-11 shooting. Wheeler also made some big contributions at the defensive end, accounting for all 4 of her team's blocks in the game.
Third year forward
Sarah Holmes finished the day with a double-double (13 points, 16 rebounds) and was the only player on either team to not come off the floor, logging 40 minutes of floor time.
The Gryphons, winners of four in a row and six of their last seven, will finish off their regular season schedule with a pair of home games against the Warriors and Mustangs. The Gryphs will host Waterloo on Valentine's Day (Wednesday, Nov. 14) before closing out the regular season on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 17) with a 1pm tip versus Western.
The Mustangs (12-10) and Gryphons (12-10) regular season finale on Saturday will also serve as a preview of a first-round playoff matchup.
Both Guelph and Western are guaranteed to finish now lower than 5th and no higher than 4th. While the No. 4 vs No. 5 seeds in the OUA West are already set, it is still to be determined whether the game will be played in London or Guelph, meaning home court will be on the line next Saturday (Feb. 17) when the Mustangs visit the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre.
