Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre

Western vs Guelph January 9 77 78

Some games feel like lessons written quietly. This one felt like something carved into stone. It lived and breathed and pulsed for forty minutes, a game so close that it never belonged to anyone for long. Every step echoed. Every possession carried weight. Every bounce of the ball felt like it was deciding something bigger than just two points.

Western walked into the GGAC as the underdog on paper, but the game never read like paper. It read like a story unfolding in real time. One point. Forty minutes. Seven lead changes. Six ties. A constant pull between belief and resistance where neither side was allowed to blink. This was basketball balanced on the thinnest edge.

First quarter
The opening minutes were rugged and honest, the kind of basketball that tells you immediately how the night will feel. Guelph struck first inside, testing the paint, testing the moment. Western answered with something that always changes the air in a gym a clean three.

Renée Armstrong stepped into it without hesitation and buried it, smooth and sure, a shot that felt like a declaration. This game would be shared. This game would be fought.

From there the rhythm began to take shape. Catíe Joosten carved out space in the paint and finished through contact. Sydney Cowan found daylight and knocked down a jumper to pull Western level. Rachel Daly attacked the rim twice with force, finishing strong and fearless, and suddenly Western were not just responding. They were asserting themselves.

But Guelph answered every question. A three from Stephanie Galikowski landed hard. Hannah Bourdon kept finding ways to score, earning every trip to the line. Nothing came easily for either side. When the quarter closed, Monique Monplaisir stepped to the stripe and calmly sank two free throws, giving Western a 19 18 edge. It was only one point, but it felt meaningful. It felt earned. It felt like the start of something.

Second quarter
The second quarter became a test of nerve.

Guelph opened with pressure, turning every catch into a decision, every dribble into a risk. The floor shrank. The paint filled. Rebounds were ripped away with urgency and intent.

And then Western found lift.

Sydney Cowan hit a three to tie the game, a shot that cut cleanly through the tension and sent a quiet jolt through the building. Renée Armstrong followed with a drive through traffic, absorbing contact and finishing anyway.

Then came the stretch that changed the temperature of the night.

Emily Capretta hit a three.
Then another.
Then another.

Three moments that felt suspended in time. Each release felt inevitable. Each make brought Western's bench to its feet. Those shots stretched the game, opened space, and allowed Western to breathe.

The lead grew to eight and for a moment it felt like Western had found the seam in the night. But Guelph never let go. They answered inside. They fought on the glass. They chipped away possession by possession. By halftime the scoreboard read 40 39 Western. One point. Again. The game walking into the break felt like it was holding its breath.

This was never going to be easy. This was never going to be quick.

Third quarter
The third quarter arrived like a storm.

Momentum shifted in flashes. Steals turned into chances. Turnovers piled up on both sides. The whistle echoed. The scoreboard barely kept pace.

Joosten stepped to the line and steadied Western. Cowan hit a jumper. Capretta finished through traffic off an offensive rebound. And then Cowan found another level.

She hit a three.
Then another.
And later another.

Shots that felt heavy with meaning. One of them came off a perfect extra pass from Natalie Van Heeswyk, a moment of trust that reflected everything Western was trying to be.

Guelph refused to fade. Keryl Ousey answered from deep. Sarah Metwally hit a massive three that tied the game at 53, and suddenly the building felt tighter, the margin thinner. Guelph pushed ahead and the tension coiled again.

Paris Alexander answered with a three of her own, pushing Western back in front. Then she slipped into the lane for a layup. Armstrong read a play perfectly, jumped the lane, and finished at the rim. Western closed the quarter up 60 57.

It was a lead on the scoreboard. It was not a lead in the feeling.

It felt like a warning. This game was nowhere near done.

Fourth quarter
The fourth quarter was one long breath.

Western opened with a moment that felt like it might tilt the night. Paris Alexander jumped a passing lane, pushed the ball forward, and fed Annie Balfe for a layup. Western by five. A clean moment. A hopeful one.

And then everything tightened again.

Guelph hit a three.
Then another.
Bourdon kept pressing.
Morra kept finishing inside.

Western answered every surge. Joosten battled on the glass and scored through contact. Cowan knocked down a jumper to make it 66 60 and for a heartbeat it felt like Western might finally pull away.

But the game would not allow it.

A three from Genevieve Stephens cut the lead.
A layup made it one.
Another three from Bourdon flipped the scoreboard again.

From there the final minutes became a collision between composure and heartbreak.

Capretta went to the line and calmly hit a free throw to pull Western within one. Armstrong kept attacking the paint, refusing to settle, finishing twice late including a powerful layup with 27 seconds left that put Western ahead 77 76.

That moment felt enormous. The kind of play that echoes. The kind of play that feels like it should be the ending.

But the game was not finished.

With seven seconds left Alexis Wright stepped to the line and hit both free throws. Guelph back in front by one.

Western still had life. Still had belief. Two final looks. A three from Cowan that drifted just long. A final attempt from Alexander that hung in the air, suspended for a split second, before falling away as the buzzer sounded.

Western 77
Guelph 78

And for a moment everything felt quiet, not because the game lacked noise, but because it had taken everything with it.

What defined the night was Western shot 42.0 percent and hit 8 threes. They scored 36 points in the paint and forced 18 points off turnovers. They fought for every inch. But in a game this tight, every missed free throw mattered. Every late turnover mattered. Every bounce mattered.

Hannah Bourdon delivered a performance that never slowed, finishing with 27 points and 13 rebounds, always present when the game reached for its biggest moments. Christina Morra was relentless inside with 17 points. And in the final seconds Wright's free throws landed with finality.

Western leaders

Sydney Cowan
Points 19
Rebounds 3
Assists 1
Blocks 1
Steals 1

Renée Armstrong
Points 15
Rebounds 6
Assists 8
Blocks 1
Steals 4

Emily Capretta
Points 11
Rebounds 7
Assists 1

Paris Alexander
Points 7
Rebounds 2
Assists 2
Blocks 1
Steals 2