Gryphon basketball women pull away to drop Toronto
TORONTO – A huge second-quarter performance powered the Guelph Gryphons to a 91-57 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues in their resumption of the OUA women’s basketball season Thursday at Toronto’s Goldring Centre.
The Blues led 24-22 at the end of the first quarter, but were held to five points in the second quarter as the Gryphs surged to a 49-29 lead by halftime. They were up 73-44 at the end of the third quarter.
Julia Colavecchia led the Gryphs with 20 points while Renee Armstrong had 18, Maggie Fitzpatrick netted 14 and Trinity Papamandjaris added 11. Papamandjaris hauled down 10 rebounds while Armstrong and Colavecchia had nine apiece while Armstrong had six assists. Alexis Wright and Papamandjaris each had three steals and Colavecchia, Papamandjaris and Macy Weber each had a block.
Ellen Ougrinov had 21 points, eight rebounds and two assists for Toronto while Raya Hafez collected nine points and two assists. Kaylee Williams had three steals and Sabrina Nero had two blocks.
The Gryphs shot 43 percent on field goals, 36 percent on three pointers and 76 percent on free throws. They also had 55 rebounds, 15 assists, 16 points off turnovers, 19 second-chance points, 32 points in the paint, 28 points from their bench and 20 turnovers.
Toronto shot 31 percent on field goals, 20 percent on three pointers and 52 percent on free throws and had 40 rebounds, seven assists, 14 points off turnovers, seven second-chance points, 16 points in the paint, 13 points from their bench and 23 turnovers.
The result leaves the Gryphs at 7-4 and Toronto at 2-8.
The game was the first in league play since the break for exams and Christmas for the Gryphs, but they did split a pair of non-conference games in a mini tournament at the University of Laval between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. They lost 71-57 to the host Rouge et Or and won 72-56 over the St. Francis Xavier X-Women.
The Gryphs are to start a three-game homestand Saturday when they’re to host the Windsor Lancers (5-3) at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. They’re also to host the Lakehead Thunderwolves (3-7) Jan. 12 and the Brock Badgers (5-4) Jan. 13. All three matches carry 6 p.m. game times.
- Guelph Sports Journal