The York University women's basketball team had the crowd roaring as they defeated the Guelph Gryphons in a close game by a score of 77-76 on Saturday evening at Tait Mackenzie Centre.
 
The Lions were on a roll to open the first quarter, as an interception by Haley Bowie led Lauren Golding to score the first two points for the Lions.  Emma Jonas and Bowie each nailed a three-pointer to add to the Lions' lead, but Guelph managed to pick up their game and tie the Lions 11-11 midway through the quarter. The Gryphons added eight more points and led the Lions 19-13 at the end of the quarter.
 
The Lions continued to trail behind the Gryphons throughout the first half of the second quarter. With two minutes remaining, the Lions were able to cut the lead to one-point at 29-28. Jonas nailed a three-pointer with one minute left until the first-half buzzer to take the lead over the Gryphons at 33-31. Following a Gryphons basket and a York timeout, Madison Bardoel scored a layup to re-gain the lead for the Lions, but the Gryphons managed to score two more baskets before the end of the half to lead the Lions 37-35.
 
After a couple baskets by the Gryphons, Golding scored the first two points of the second-half for the Lions. Following a York timeout, Jonas sunk a three-pointer and Katrina Collins-Samuels scored a lay-up to tie the game 46-46. The Lions finally regained their lead after Collins-Samuels nailed two free throws. The Lions picked up their biggest lead in the third quarter with thirty seconds remaining with a score of 61-50. Despite the Gryphons scoring a jump-shot and a three-pointer at the end of the quarter, the Lions remained ahead by a score of 61-55.
 
The Lions held their lead throughout the start of the fourth, however with five minutes left in the game, the Gryphons closed the Lions' lead to one-point. The rest of the quarter was intense as the Lions and the Gryphons each had a chance to lead. Cyanna King was fouled with 23 seconds left and nailed two free throws to move ahead of the Gryphons 77-76 and a huge steal by Golding led the Lions to regain possession of the ball with five seconds left to play. Although the Lions were outscored by the Gryphons 21-16 in the quarter, they did enough defensively to hold off Guelph for the one-point victory.  
 
Collins-Samuels led the way for the Lions and picked up 18 points and nine rebounds. Both Golding and King earned 14 points and nine rebounds. Standing out for the Gryphons was Burke Bechard with 21 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Lions are back at home at Tait Mackenzie Centre on Nov. 16 when they face the Waterloo Warriors. The game is scheduled to start at 6pm.