The York University Lions women's basketball team travelled to Guelph, Ont., Wednesday to take on the Guelph Gryphons. The Gryphons proved to be a tough challenge, and the Lions suffered a hard loss of 73-54.
 
The Gryphons got off to a quick start in the first quarter, but the Lions were able to step up to the challenge and never allowed the Gryphons to be ahead by more than seven points. The Lions were behind by just four points at the end of the first quarter, which was 17-13 for the Gryphons.
 
In the second quarter, the Lions were able to catch up to the Gryphons and tie up the score 23-23 halfway through the quarter, courtesy of two free throws made my Haley Bowie. The Lions and Gryphons battled ferociously for a couple more minutes, with neither team holding the lead for long. The Lions began to slip in the last two minutes of the quarter, and finished just behind the Gryphons at 31-28.
 
The Lions brought a stellar defensive game into the third quarter and capitalized on blocking opponents' shots and capturing rebounds, preventing the Gryphons from scoring for the first three-and-a-half minutes of the quarter. Following that, the Lions were able to keep the scores close until the last half of that quarter, when the Gryphons began to find openings in the Lions' defence and pulled ahead to a 15-point lead. The quarter closed at 52-37 for the Gryphons.
 
The Lions battled hard through the fourth and final quarter and made close to the same number of points as the Gryphons – 17 to the Gryphons' 21. Ultimately, it was not enough to close the gap created by the Gryphons in the third quarter.
 
The top scorer for the Lions was Lindsay Shotbolt, who scored 14 points and added a season-high 15 rebounds, followed by Bowie with 13 points.
 
High scorers for the Gryphons were Megan Brenkel, Burke Bechard and Sarah Holmes with 22, 14 and 12 points, respectively.
 
The Lions will play again on Saturday, Nov. 11 at the George Leach Centre – home of the Algoma Thunderbirds. After matches at Wilfred Laurier University and the University of Waterloo, the Lions will return to Tait Friday, Nov. 24 at 6pm to take on the Western Mustangs.