The York University Lions women's basketball team rallied in the fourth quarter but came up short in a 71-62 loss to the Guelph Gryphons at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre in Guelph, Ont., on Saturday night.
 
The Lions wrap up the 2016 portion of their schedule with a 1-5 record after Friday's win over Algoma. The Gryphons are also now at 1-5 with their first win of the season over the Lions.
 
The Gryphons led by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter but the Lions rallied to close the gap to just five with 1:22 remaining. With time winding down the Lions were forced to foul the Gryphons, and Megan Brenkel made four free throws to seal the win.
 
A fast start by the Gryphons hurt the Lions' chances to really get into the game, as the home squad led 23-12 after the first quarter. The Lions chipped away at the lead and narrowed it to 38-31 at the half, but another big quarter by the Gryphons in the third again helped them pull away and they held on at the end.
 
For the second game in a row, fifth-year guard Ishanaa Seupersadsingh (Markham, Ont.) led the Lions in scoring, putting up 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
 
Katrina Collins-Samuels (Hamilton, Ont.) and Sandra Nagowska (Peterborough, Ont.) each had 11 points in the contest. Collins-Samuels also had four steals, three rebounds and two assists, while Nagowska recorded a game-high nine rebounds and added two steals and one assist.
 
Brenkel was Guelph's leading scorer with 16 points, and she also had four rebounds, three assists and one block.
 
The Lions are now on a break until the new year and will return to action on Friday, Jan. 6 when they travel to Windsor, Ont., to face the Lancers in a game beginning at 6pm.