GUELPH, Ont. – Playing on their home court for the first time in nearly three months, the Gryphons women's basketball team got off to a fast start and never looked back en route to a dominating 93-45 victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds on Friday night at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. Six Gryphons scored in double figures, led by
MacKeely Shantz with 15 points on 6-11 shooting. The Gryphons, playing in their first home game since November 27, built up a 28-6 lead after the opening quarter of play, and held the visitors from Sault Ste Marie to single-digit totals in three of the four quarters.
It was an incredibly efficient night at both ends of the floor for the Gryphons, who shot 46.8% from the field as a team while also knocking down eight three-pointers on the evening.
Burke Bechard (14 points, 6-9 shooting),
Natalie Vigna (12 points, 5-8 shooting),
Skyla Minaker (10 points, 4-8 shooting) and
Reece Mungar (7 points, 3-5 shooting) were all part of a polished performance by the Gryphon starters in limited action, with Shantz also adding 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals to go along with her team-high 15 points. Extended playing time from the bench meant big contributions from the likes of
Lucy Tesseyman (London, ON) who chipped in with 11 points and 7 rebounds in 19 minutes of floor time.
With the win, the Gryphons improve to 6-3 on the season, good for 3rd in the 9-team OUA West Division. Algoma meanwhile falls to 1-10 on the season, with the two teams set to square off again on Saturday afternoon in Guelph. Game time on Saturday is set for 1pm and can be seen live online at OUA.tv.
