Griffins get the win over Cougars in weekend opener

Max Campbell, Mount Royal Cougars Sports Information 

CALGARY, AB – The Mount Royal University Cougars dropped a Friday night contest to the visiting MacEwan University Griffins by a score of 86-61 as MacEwan's Megan Wood continued her proficient scoring pace. The fifth-year forward, who entered the game as the third-leading scorer across the Canada West conference, poured in a game-high 21 points.

Angela Driscoll kicked things off for the Cougars with a contested put-back layup as the home team took an early lead. However, Mount Royal would go on to surrender 17 points in the opening 10 minutes, as the Cougars were outscored by three after the first quarter of play. 

In the early stages of the second frame, a three-point shot was drained by the Griffins' Kelly O'Hallahan, as she was left all alone at the top of the key. A porous zone defense from the Blue and White continued to struggle throughout the quarter – a total of 15 offensive rebounds in the half directly led to a series of second-chance opportunities for MacEwan. 

Facing an 11-point deficit to begin the third, Mount Royal continued to play catch-up while facing a stiff uphill battle. Although a pull-up jump shot by Drew Knox finished off a three-on-one fast break in the latter stages of the quarter, Brooke Lister could not beat the buzzer on the subsequent trip down the floor.