Box Score
GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's basketball team fell to the McMaster Marauders in a 73-69 final tonight (Jan. 9) at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. The game drops the Gryphons to 4-6 and boosts the Marauders to 4-6.
The game will be aired on Rogers TV on Thursday, January 10th at 8pm and on Saturday, January 12th at 12:30PM.
Alyssa Shortt (Waterloo, Ont) led the Gryphon offence with 16 points, ten of which came in the final frame. She was followed by teammate
Barbara Inrig-Pieterse (London, Ont.) who tallied 12 points on the night.
Leading all scorers was Danielle Boiago with 20 points, 15 of those points game in the final quarter. Trailing closely was Isabel Ormond (Hamilton, Ont) with 19 points on the night.
Erica McFadden (Alma, Ont) opened the Gryphon attack beyond the arc to establish an early Guelph presence. But McMaster's Isabel Ormond was quick to respond with a three of her own to even the playing field. However, the Gryphon's ability to come down with the rebound allowed Guelph to open an early eight point lead with three minutes left on the clock. But it was the Marauder defence that enabled McMaster to close the gap to tie the game at 18 at the end of ten.
The offensive momentum carried over into the second quarter as both teams got off to a strong start. Yet despite the early offensive efforts on both sides of the ball, neither team was able to pull ahead as the quarter wound down to the halfway mark. At this point, the Gryphon offence was able to establish a strong rhythm to work the ball into the McMaster paint to connect on consecutive streaks of six to jump ahead 36-32 at the half.
At the end of two, the Gryphons were led by
Kayla Goodhoofd (Oakville, Ont) who was able to net eight points in the offensive effort. But it was Isabel Ormond of McMaster who was able to pull ahead of all scorers with 12 points to keep McMaster's game alive.
Where the offences reigned in the first, the defences stepped up in the third as both teams refused to let up on the scoreboard
as the clock wound down with neither team making a dent. But with each team stepping up to the line, the offensive game reopened as Guelph built a strong streak of eight to jump ahead by 10 at the five minute mark. However, McMaster's offence was revitalized after storming the court for eight to narrow the gap to two. The Gryphons' took a time out to regain control of the tempo. And, following
Dana Van Balkom (Hamilton, Ont) three-point-play, the Gryphons were able to hold onto a two-point lead as the quarter rang out at 47-45.
Barbara Inrig-Pieterse picked up on earlier Gryphon momentum to regain the lead with a strike beyond the arc to open the final frame. The Marauders then tallied two steals and converted four points on both opportunities to bring the game to within one. An additional basket gave the Marauders their first lead of the half as they jumped ahead 51-50. Guelph's momentum began to solidify as the attack from the arc took headed by Alyssa Short built an eight point lead. But Danielle Boiago was determined to make her presence felt as she stepped up for consecutive threes to bring the game to two. Continuing the offensive burst saw Ormond strike between the Gryphon defence to jump ahead by one as the clock struck the two minute mark.
Alyssa Short continued her fourth quarter dominance as she racked up her ninth point of the quarter to take the lead. Unfortunately for Guelph, the lead was short lived as Boiago struck again with back-to-back threes to regain a 4-point lead. A last second effort by Jasmine Douglas (Guelph, Ont) brought the game to two, but Boiago was able to put the game out of reach as she stepped up to go 2-2 from the line to put the game out of reach as the game wound down for a 73-69 Marauder victory.
The Gryphons look for redemption as they travel to Waterloo to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks this Saturday (Jan. 12). Tip-off is set for 1:00 pm.
