Prior to the start of the current Ontario university women’s basketball season, if the Guelph Gryphons had been told they’d have just a single loss after their first 10 league games, they might have been surprised, but they definitely wouldn’t have given it much thought.
“This team is so capable. We have amazing leaders,” said head coach Megan Reid.
“Some like MacKeely Shantz and Natalie Vigna have led the team for the last couple of years and this is their final season here as Gryphons so they're motivated. I don't have to motivate anybody on this team.
“The third-year (players) that came in during COVID and sat behind some really good players the last couple of years haven't had as much playing time as they want. They're hungry. They're humble and they're hungry and they want to get after it. The skill level of those third-years is amazing, too. We've got some nice rookies that are coming in in bits and pieces and they have their moments as well. When I look at a team that is incredibly well glued together, that support each other, that believe in themselves or are starting to believe in themselves, then that doesn't surprise me at all.
“I'm always like take one game at a time so the record is just something that comes of that reality,” Shantz said. “This is such a fun team and we enjoy being around each other and we enjoy playing the game so much. I think that it’s just an outcome of that and the record is just an outcome of us just having fun and really loving this game and this team.”
The record could also be an offshoot of the strength of opponent they have faced.
They won all eight games they played before the break for exams and holidays and then split their two games in their return to league play. Their two wins immediately before the break were the only ones against teams with winning records as both the McMaster Marauders and Western Mustangs are at 7-4.
They beat the Algoma Thunderbirds (0-10) and Laurier Golden Hawks (4-8) twice apiece and Lakehead Thunderwolves (0-10) and York Lions (4-6) once each before the break. Then they returned from the break with a loss to the Toronto Metropolitan Bold (6-5) and a bounce-back win over the Toronto Varsity Blues (3-9) last week.
“We had two incredibly tough games against McMaster and against Western and that came off an Algoma weekend,” Reid said. “So we drive to Algoma (in Sault Ste. Marie), nine hours up and nine hours back with weather, so for us to beat those two teams at the end of our first block with people that were hurt and even losing (our second-leading scorer) Natalie Vigna in that Western game shows me that we have depth and that we can beat anybody. A lot of that is that we're still working out some kinks on offence and we're still finding more of the transition game. When we don't run, it's challenging for us.”
“We haven't even seen half the league in a few years because of that COVID break and then last year we were grouped into smaller groups,” Shantz said. “Honestly, every game you don't know what to expect and you don't know who you're going to get.”
The 30-point loss to TMU proved to be costly as it knocked the Gryphons out on the weekly U Sports top 10 rankings. They had entered the break ranked seventh in the country.
The success the Gryphons have had this season has come with Reid as their head coach for the first time. She had been an assistant to Gryphon Hall of Fame player Mark Walton who stepped down at the end of last season.
“Mark was the master of that subtle tweak and that subtle fix that would just open things up and I'm working my way toward that,” Reid said. “That's not me, I need to rely on the tried and true and the everyday bread and butter fuel.
“He's amazing. He's got more knowledge in his pinkie finger than I will have in my whole body. I will never be coach Mark Walton, so I need to coach my personality with my gut and my instincts, but learning in the system for the past four years has certainly prepped me up. I didn't want to go in and change a whole bunch of things. What we had was working. I trust our players. I believe in our players and that's the most important thing.”
But has the system changed?
“Not overly,” Shantz answered. “Megan was working pretty close with Mark last year and we' ve kept a lot of the same offensive principles and that stuff going forward. A lot of the things that coach Mark implemented in terms of team culture and all that stuff, we've carried through for sure. It's just the smaller things of team chats and how practice looks that have changed up a little bit and it's definitely pushing us in a good direction.”
The Gryphons will likely get a good indication of exactly where they stand in the league this weekend with a trip to play the ninth-ranked Carleton Ravens (9-2) Saturday and the third-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees (11-0) Sunday. Only other OUA team in the top 10 now is the Queen’s Gaels (11-0) who, like Ottawa and Carleton, are in the East Division. The Gryphons lead the West Division and they’re to host Queen’s Feb. 3.
“Both teams up there are very good,” Reid said of the weekend trip. “They're different. They play similarly to us in Ottawa so we know kind of what to expect. We're going to play our game and we're going to go deep. I'm excited to go up the Ottawa. You always want to play the top teams and measure and see and keep getting better.”
“The trip to Ottawa will be a fun one, for sure,” Shantz said. “They'll be good games.”
