GUELPH, Ont. - On Wednesday night (Jan. 25) the Gryphons women's basketball team took the court at the Gryphon Athletic Centre for their second game of a four-game home stand. The Gryphons came into Wednesday's game coming off a hard-fought 82-73 loss to the Waterloo Warriors and looking to get back into the win column in front of their home crowd. The Gryphons would pick up their 11th win in a 60-57 win led by their imposing defensive play. 

The first quarter saw the Gryphons jump out to an early 11-5 lead after six Laurentian turnovers, four of which were stolen by the Gryphons. The visiting Voyageurs would also find themselves in early foul trouble, sending the Gryphs to the line three times in the opening quarter where they would go 6-for-6. Despite only shooting 26% in the opening 10 minutes the U of G women would head into the second quarter with a 17-10 lead. The second quarter would see the Gryphons continue to capitalize off of Laurentian turnovers, with the visiting teams committing 12 more in the second frame. By halftime the Gryphons would score 17 points off of Voyageur turnovers. The second quarter also saw the Gryphons improve their shooting percentage, going 6-of-17 from the field and 11-of-14 from the free throw line to outscore the Voyageurs by 5-points and head into halftime with a 36-24 lead. 

The third frame would see the Gryphons continue their stellar defensive play, taking the ball away eight times and blocking two Voyageur shots. After three quarters standout guard MacKeely Shantz would lead the Gryphons with four takeaways. Shantz would put together another impressive all-around performance scoring a game-high 21 points in addition to her 8 rebounds, 6 steals, and single block. The Gryphons third quarter play would be highlighted by their 40% shooting from beyond the arc that would allow them to extend their lead by a single point to enter the final 10 minutes up 48-35. In the final quarter Laurentian would be unable to pull with striking distance of the Gryphons until with 1:05 remaining when they would make it an eight-point game. After hitting another three and making a layup Laurentian would set themselves up with a game-tying opportunity with 2.2 seconds remaining. A missed shot would secure the 60-57 U of G win. The Gryphon defensive effort limited the Voyageurs to just 34% shooting from the field, while forcing 35 turnovers. 

After picking up their 11th win of the 2022-23 campaign the Gryphons will look to pick up back-to-back wins when they return to the court at the Gryphon Athletic Centre on Sunday (Jan. 29) to host the Nipissing Voyaguers. Tickets to the game can be purchased at gryphons.ca/tickets, and fans unable to attend can watch live at www.oua.tv.