“Playing the fourth ranked team in the country on Friday night and the tenth ranked team on Saturday night can be a little overwhelming, but I thought we played really well for three and a half quarters in both games. We just didn’t get it done in the last part of the fourth quarter,” said Gryphons women’s basketball head coach Tim O’Brien regarding the team’s games against Carleton and Ottawa on Nov. 25 and 26.

O’Brien continued to explain that the loss in Gryphon momentum in the fourth quarter of both games is partly due to the team’s lack of playing experience, as the team has 11 first years and only four upper years.

“You’re physically tired, you’re mentally tired and you just need to fight through that,” said O’Brein “We just haven’t learned yet that you have to play harder in the fourth quarter than you did in the first three.”

Although the team dropped both games, O’Brien says the margin between scores demonstrates that the team has got what it takes to compete with the elite teams.

“Anytime when you get a game where [the difference in scores] is ten points or under, that means the game could’ve gone either way. So you look at our four losses right now and you’ll see that we lost by six to Queens, eight to Toronto–and Toronto’s a top ten team as well– and then by 10 to Carleton, so all those games could’ve gone either way,” said O’Brien.

While the team’s shooting consistency has room for improvement, their depth and awareness of one another’s presence on the court is certainly evident.

“We can go eight or nine deep, [whereas] last year we were going six or seven. I think that’s huge,” said O’Brien. “The leadership we’re getting from our three captains, Ali Dzikowski, Jasmine Douglas and Samantha Russell are providing great leadership for our team. I think those two things really come together and form great team chemistry. They don’t get down on each other, they don’t get upset with each other, they just keep working.”

With two games scheduled for Dec. 2 and 3 against Laurentian and York, the team will look to improve their 4-4 record before heading into the break.

“When we come back after Christmas we’ll have to keep plugging away. I don’t think this team is anywhere near close to its potential yet,” continued O’Brien. “I know there are a lot of people who have seen us play and know that we’re going to get better.”

Win or lose, O’Brien stressed the importance of keeping a cool head when faced with adversity.

“I’ll put my hand out in front of me and just wave it across from side to side on a line and that’s the level I want the team playing at. I don’t want them playing way up there after you hit a couple of threes or you miss a couple shots and you drop your head and you’re down,” said O’Brien. “You can’t play with those peaks and valleys, you have to play at the same level all the time so we preach that and practice that and I think we’ve been successful.”

The Gryphons will return to their home court on Jan. 14 to challenge Waterloo.

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