Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — The MacEwan Griffins got off to a slow start in the second quarter and were left chasing the Lethbridge Pronghorns, and while they fought and clawed their way back, they couldn't quite finish the comeback.
Unity Obasuyi led MacEwan with 22 points, while Sarah Burnell chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds and Toni Gordon was all over the scoresheet with six points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals, but the Griffins fell 65-56 on Friday night at the David Atkinson gymnasium.
"I was certainly pleased with the effort. There was a lot of back and forth, we went on a run, they went on a run, but unfortunately that 14-0 run in the second quarter, that really hurt," said Griffins head coach Katherine Adams.
"We were able to close the momentum, and then we got it back, but the effort was there and they adjusted, and at the end of the day, they (Lethbridge) hit some big shots when they needed to increase that gap, and we didn't."
Lethbridge had four players hit double-digits in points in the victory as Courtney McKee and Kamryn Deklerk recorded 12 points and four rebounds each, while Kyra Collier chipped in with 11 points. Tobore Okome recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
MacEwan trailed for all but just 1:26 in the game, but they didn't back down. After giving up a huge run to start the second quarter, they cut the Pronghorns' lead to 37-30 at the half, and the lead for Lethbridge shrunk to just five points at the end of the third quarter.
And while MacEwan was able to dig in defensively to start the fourth quarter and limit the Pronghorns offensively, their shooting stroke went a little cold and the Pronghorns were able to put together a 21-point fourth quarter and pull out the win.
The biggest difference in the second half was Lethbridge got to the foul line 24 times, compared to just six in the first half, and MacEwan got to the foul line just seven times.
Toni Gordon goes coast to coast!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/duAwgBGdYa
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) January 18, 2025
"As tough as we defended, I think we can defend better," said Adams.
"We gave up some easy baskets in the first half, and in the second half we sent them to the free throw line far too many times, and I think we can be better and I think the girls are hungry to improve even more from their effort today."
MacEwan was feisty defensively, forcing 24 turnovers on the Pronghorns, but they also gave up 25 turnovers and Lethbridge as able to score 18 points off of them.
"It's something that we've been focusing on, because we've been turning over the ball quite a bit, and it's been our Achilles' Heel, but we also know it can sometimes be from a product of the style we want to play," said Adams.
"We want to push the pace, and sometimes our young guards are learning and their mind is one step ahead of their body.
"We lost the turnover margin by one today, and while we're not satisfied with 25 turnovers, at the same time we forced a lot of turnovers."
Unity Obasuyi launches a big three to get the @MacEwanGriffins within two in the third quarter.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/WRm16YdRiP
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) January 18, 2025
With the loss, MacEwan fell to 0-11, but Adams was complimentary about the amount of strong performances within her young group.
They won the battle on the boards, and Gordon, Burnell and Ayla Grady combined for 26 of their 43 rebounds.
Offensively, all but Grady were able to score at least one bucket, and it was a group effort defensively as Gordon, Burnell and Sofia Makinen combined for nine of the team's 13 steals.
"I thought we had a lot of contributions from everyone in a lot of different ways," said Adams.
"Toni and Sarah were rebounding the ball really well today and we had a lot of others step up and score and find ways to contribute."
Sarah Burnell nets two of her 10 points. She narrowly missed a double double, adding nine rebounds.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/smL8UMIC9j
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Basketball Team (@Griffins_WBB) January 18, 2025
MacEwan knows that if they can clean some areas of their game up, they will have a good opportunity to pull out a win tomorrow.
"They (Lethbridge) took advantage of some of our miscommunication on defence and some of them were shooting hot, and we've got to get more stops on them," said Obasuyi.
"If we can limit our turnover and do a better job of limiting their offensive boards, we will give ourselves a good chance tomorrow, but it comes down to talking and communicating and all out effort on both ends of the floor."
MacEwan will wrap up their weekend series with Lethbridge on Saturday (3 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
