Women's basketball was thrilled to be back in the friendly confines of the PAC on Wednesday night after a tough road trip to the Soo and the black and gold gave their fans lot to cheer about following a thrilling 68-64 overtime win over the visiting Guelph Gryphons.
"I am extremely proud of the guts and determination we displayed tonight against a tough and physically talented Guelph squad," said head coach
Craig Nickel. "We got off to a slow start but once we settled in, I was really pleased with our compete level and focus we showed down the stretch."
Aphia Ward (Beaumont/) hit the tying bucket with 23.4 seconds left from downtown, her fourth of the game to send Waterloo and Guelph into overtime tied at 61's.
In the extra frame,
Kaitlyn Overeem (Brantford/) hit six of Waterloo's seven points to lift her Warriors to the four point victory. Waterloo outscored Guelph 7-3 in the overtime period.
Overeem finished the contest with a game high 22 points going 6-for-12 with two 3-pointers and an impressive 8-for-9 from the line. Overeem also had six boards, seven assists and seven steals. Ward finished with 19 points and a team high eight rebounds.
Not much separated the two teams up and down the stats sheet but Waterloo turned Guelph's turnovers into 23 points proving to be the difference for home side.
Mackenize Obermayer had a nice game with seven points and seven rebounds while
Vanessa Hughes (Hamilton/),
Beth Howlett (Burlington) and
Meghan Sharp (Kitchener/) all contributed with six points each. Sharp was big defensively including a huge block on Guelph's final possession to send the game in overtime.
With the win Waterloo moved into a 4-way tie for fifth in the OUA west with a record of 4-9. The Warriors next game goes Saturday as they battle the 6-7 Brock Badgers at 6pm in the PAC.
