MacEwan Athletics and Pronghorns Athletics
LETHBRIDGE – Unable to recover from a cold-shooting first half where they scored just 15 points, the MacEwan Griffins fell 69-50 to the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday night.
The 'Horns defence was stifling in the first 20 minutes, holding the Griffins to just 5-for-19 shooting. Even though the Griffins found more offensive success in the second half – posting 35 points – they were unable to get any closer.
"I think we worked hard to get shots and they didn't fall for us," said Griffins head coach Katherine Adams, whose squad is now 0-4 on the Canada West season. "It's obviously frustrating when you feel like you work hard to generate some opportunities and they just don't fall for you.
"We weren't quite tough enough to get it done on the defensive glass and gave up 13 boards in the first half that really fed their scoring and opportunities for them. That was the big difference."
Trailing 34-15 at the half, Adams just threw the original plan out the window and began to give rookies some minutes.
"We said, 'OK, what we're doing isn't working,' so we made a change," she explained. "We told (our younger players) 'go out and do what you do best.' They really went out and played with no fear."
That led to a big performance from rookie Hayley Lalor, who wound up leading the Griffins with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes of court time.
"Haley, in particular, came out and gave us a real spark," said Adams. "The energy that she brought to the game really inspired us.
"I said to the team after the game 'that's what we want. We want to play inspired, we want to inspire our teammates to play that way.' The energy she brought really fed into our entire team effort."
Mackenzie Farmer had the best game out of MacEwan's starters with 10 points, while fifth-year veteran Kayla Ivicak – who put up a double-double on Lethbridge a night earlier – was quietly held to just two points, but chipped in five boards, two assists and two steals.
However, the Griffins did get points from 11 different players.
"Everyone had an opportunity to go out and show what they can do and what they can contribute," said Adams.
Lethbridge, which improves to 2-0, had three players in double digits: Katie Bosch (17), Amy Mazutinec (13) and Logan Moncks (11).
Bosch was the big story in this game as the transfer from Gonzaga University left Friday's affair after the first half with a nose injury. She returned triumphantly on Saturday with the game-high in points.
While the Pronghorns visit UBC-Okanagan next weekend, the Griffins return to Edmonton to host Winnipeg on Nov. 9-10.
