Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The remarkable resilience shown by the young MacEwan Griffins women's basketball team felt almost as valuable as two points in the standings on Friday night.
Down 24 to the Mount Royal Cougars entering the fourth quarter, they closed to within 10 before falling 70-55 on the opening night of the Canada West season for both teams.
The result felt like a moral victory for the Griffins, who lost by 44 points to MRU in a preseason game back in September, albeit with their veterans sitting out.
Friday's rally was no surprise to the Griffins, who have inherent belief they're far better than the 17th place vote they received in the Canada West preseason coaches poll.
"I'm not surprised in our ability to compete and close the gap the way we did," said MacEwan head coach Katherine Adams. "It's unfortunate we had the start that we did to put ourselves in that situation, but I think we know our brand, we know our style and we know our strengths. We know how we want to play.
"When we play that way, we can compete. I don't think anyone in our locker-room is surprised at our ability to do that."
Second-year Unity Obasuyi was front and centre in the comeback effort, scoring 11 of her game-high (and career-high) 21 points in the fourth quarter. She went 3-for-7 from behind the arc and attacked the paint with confidence and aplomb. At one point, she scored 12-straight points for the Griffins.
Unity Obasuyi scores 11 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, including this strong take.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/hA4l1ZbEbT
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) November 2, 2024
"I just remembered all the work I put in in the off-season," she said. "I just remembered I'm here for a reason, so it just shows the work that I put in, there's value to it."
Ava Regier also hit three three-pointers to finish with nine points as MacEwan shot 27.0 per cent (10-for-37) on treys.
"Unity did a great job finding scoring opportunities for herself," said Adams. "It really helped that we were able to get some stops and rebound the basketball, and push in transition, so that she had some open space to be able to attack and get to the rim. As soon as you put some pressure on the rim, it opens up those opportunities from the three-point line.
"We did a good job in the second half of finding shooters and they knocked down shots. Unity, Ava and Paige (Massier) all did a really good job of that today."
Four-point play!
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) November 2, 2024
Sarah Burnell hits the three and make the follow-up foul shot.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/E1hoUavgWT
MRU was led by Nora Luca – who narrowly missed a double double with 16 points and nine rebounds – while Maddy Hooper (13 points) and Jenika Martens (11 points) also hit double digits.
Hayley Lalor, who spent five seasons at MacEwan before transferring to MRU to play with her sister Jamie in 2024-25, played 29 minutes for the Cougars, finishing with six points and five steals. It was her first action in the David Atkinson Gym since Jan. 21, 2023 when she suffered a major knee injury against Alberta.
Ultimately, the Griffins' undoing was a slow, somewhat hesistant start – which is not to be unexpected from a young team playing under the nerves a home opener presents. Still, you only have to point at a large number of turnovers to see where it went wrong.
"I think we had 19 turnovers in the first half, so that certainly doesn't help you get into a flow and a rhythm offensively," said Adams. "Then not being efficient scoring the basketball puts more pressure on your defence.
"We just gave up a few things that we knew Mount Royal was coming with and are a strength to their game, but it took us a half to adjust and play our brand of basketball."
First basket of the season goes to Paige Massier. What a jump to intercept and set up the fast break!#GriffNation @MacEwanGriffins pic.twitter.com/p0SQeEwK04
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) November 1, 2024
That will be the lesson to be employed in Saturday's rematch between the teams (1 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV). Admission is free as the game is part of MacEwan's Open House celebrations.
"We just need to come in and hit first, punch first," said Obasuyi. "What we brought in the second half of the game was tremendous, I think. But what we had in the first half, we do need to fix that up.
"We just need to know that feeling and make sure we don't feel that way again."
