GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team is set to take the court on Friday night (Oct. 23, 2026) when they host the Windsor Lancers to begin the 2026-27 OUA regular season. Eighteen teams from across the province are split into three divisions as they compete in a 22-game regular season with the Gryphons playing out of the OUA West Division. Twelve teams in the OUA will make the playoffs, with the division winners and the team with the next best record earning byes into the quarterfinals while the other eight playoff teams play in the opening round of the postseason, which all begins on February 17, 2027. The Gryphons have reached the OUA playoffs in seven consecutive seasons but will take to the court this season with a youthful squad full of new faces.
"Our focus this season will be on continuing to learn and grow with each practice and each game," says
Christine Hyde, who enters her second season in charge of the University of Guelph women's basketball program after leading the Gryphons to the OUA quarterfinals a season ago. "A lot of our student-athletes on this year's team will be asked to log more minutes and play bigger roles than they have in the past at the OUA level, so it will be important for us to remain focused on the x's and o's and play with passion."
Helping lead the way for the Gryphons women's basketball team in 2026-27 will be 5-foot-7 guard,
Laurie Calixte. Calixte, a 23-year-old from Gatineau, Quebec, enters her second season with the Gryphons after arriving at the University of Guelph midseason last season, after transferring to Guelph from Eastern New Mexico University. Calixte, who is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Guelph, is poised to take on one of the leading scoring roles for the Gryphons this season. Stephanie Golikowski, a 5-foot-8 shooting guard from Toronto, returns for her 2nd season as a Gryphon. The wildlife biology and conservation major impressed as a rookie a season ago, highlighted by a career-high 14 point performance on 5-7 shooting versus the Windsor Lancers in January of 2026.
Genevieve Stephens (London, ON) enters her second year with the Gryphons and is poised to take on a bigger role after making the team as a walk-on a season ago.
Veteran point guards
Rain Jhaj (Caledon, ON) and
Sarah Metwally (Alexandria, Egypt) return for their fifth-year, and fourth-year, respectively, with Jhaj serving as a team captain in 2026-27.
Grace Kelly, a 5-foot-9 guard from Brockville, returns for her fourth-year with the program. Incoming rookie,
Reianne Palarca (Mississauga, ON) provides the Gryphons with a facilitator in the backcourt, while incoming transfer,
Jaden Dittmer (Plattsville, ON) arrives at U of G after having spent two seasons with the University of Victoria Vikes.
In the frontcourt,
Keryl Ousey returns for her fourth-year, with the 6-foot-3 centre from Mount Gambier, Australia looking to help lead the way in the paint and on the glass.
Megan Jasie, a 6-foot-3 forward from Markham, Ontario, returns from a season-ending injury a year ago that forced her to miss the entire 2025-26 campaign. While incoming rookie
Isabella Komierowski, a 6-foot-4 centre from Calgary, Alberta, provides the Gryphons with some protection at the rim and arrives at the University of Guelph to major in biological science.
Nicole Lofing (Vancouver, BC),
Samantha Milne (Belleville, ON) and
MacKenzie Wionzek (Millarville, AB) round out the front court.
The Gryphons will open the 2026-27 season with a pair of tough tests, with the Windsor Lancers (Friday, Oct. 23) and Western Mustangs (Saturday, Oct. 24) set to visit the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. Tickets are available online at
www.gryphons.ca/tickets, with all of the Gryphons regular season games broadcast live online at
www.oua.tv.
