GUELPH, Ont. – The first round of the OUA playoffs saw the Golden Hawks and Guelph Gryphons meet for the third time in as many weeks. The Golden Hawks got off to a hot start but could not hold on, bowing out with the 71-56 loss.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the first quarter as both teams came out of the gates ready to leave it all on the floor. The Gryphons started on a 6-2 run, but
Janet Enge,
who burned the Gryphons coming off the bench in their first meeting, had a response, draining the wide-open three.
Guelph went 4-11 from distance in the first quarter, two coming back-to-back at the mid-way point. Enge, again, countered on the hoop and harm to level the score at 12, part of her team-high eight points in the frame.
At the three minute mark, the Gryphons exchanged three-pointers, this time with
Kate White, striking right down main street.
The Gryphons found themselves in foul trouble and Laurier closed the quarter with
Dylann Mazzuchin on the line to give the Hawks a 21-20 advantage.
The game took a drastic turn for the sixth seed Gryphons as the Golden Hawks shot the lights out from distance while limiting Guelph's offensive efficiency. Guelph put up seven points in the quarter, tied for their lowest total on the season, and were held without a basket for the last five minutes.
At 7:55,
Cassidy Hirtle drew a crowd and sent a fastball to Enge for the catch-and-shoot three and four point advantage.
From that point on, the Golden Hawks were kept off the board for nearly five minutes, but they did not let the Gryphons run away with the lead, keeping them to only five points. It was
Brittyn Graves who sparked the Laurier offence later in the third as Hirtle drove the paint and kicked out to Graves who's three-pointer regained the lead at 29-27.
With the clock under two minutes, Hirtle found White for another deep shot and her second of the game. Hirtle again played facilitator, teaming up with Enge for a three-peat of three's.
12 of Laurier's 15 points in the quarter came from beyond the arc while the remainder came from the free throw line. Hirtle assisted on all of the Golden Hawks to give her four helpers, marking a new career high for assists in a single quarter in both the regular and postseason.
Enge also put up another eight points for 16 at the half, and her first and second quarters were both two points shy of her playoff career high of 10 points in a single frame that came in the fourth quarter of
last year's playoff game.
The Golden Hawks were in command at halftime, up 36-27, on 39.1% shooting from the field, 50% from distance, and 92.3% from the line.
In the third quarter's opening seconds, White went through traffic for the contested layup to give the Golden Hawks a double digit lead. But, the Gryphons found their second wind, going on a 9-0 run to dwindle Laurier's lead to just two points. Hirtle, however, put an end to that, nailing the triple from the wing.
Down to the last four minutes of the quarter, Enge faked going this way and that, leaving her defender in the dust, and drained the highlight-reel three. She ended the night with a playoff career high 21 points and seven rebounds.
Hirtle's free throws at the two minute warning put the Golden Hawks up by 11, their largest lead of the night. However, the Golden Hawks slowly started to sputter out as the Gryphons put on their rally caps, hitting consecutive three-balls and a pair of free throws for an 8-0 run to close the quarter and the gap to 49-46.
The Royal City would ultimately be the end of the Golden Hawks' road as Guelph dominated the fourth quarter, erasing the double digit deficit, and will advance to their third straight OUA quarterfinals.
Despite this year's campaign being cut short, there is room for optimism with a majority of the roster going into their second and third years, and key pieces in Graves, White, and
Isabella Cotton eligible to return for the 2025/26 season.
