Brianna Sank covers her post against a UBC threat on the weekend. She stopped 77 of 83 shots against the No. 1 team in the country (Rich Lam, UBC Thunderbirds).

January 31, 2023

Three Stars: Sank, Gordon, Osunde earn honours

MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Women's hockey student-athlete Brianna Sank is the MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after stopping 77 of 83 shots against U SPORTS No. 1 UBC on the weekend.

Thanks to Sank's play, the Griffins were within a goal of the Thunderbirds until the final minute in Friday's 4-1 loss and were tied with them in the third period before falling 5-2 on Saturday.

Women's basketball student-athlete Toni Gordon and men's basketball's Matthew Osunde are the second and third stars, respectively.

It's the fourth time this season and second time in three weeks that Sank has made the Three Stars list, following two third star nods (Oct. 11 and Nov. 1) and a first-star honour (Jan. 17).

Osunde is being honoured for the second-straight week and fourth-time overall in 2022-23 after being named second star on Nov. 22 and Jan. 24, and third star on Jan. 10.

Gordon makes the list for the first time in her Canada West career.

1^st STAR: Brianna Sank, G, women's hockey

Ardrossan, AB, third-year, Commerce

After another sterling weekend performance, Brianna Sank nets first star honours for the second time in the past three weeks.

Facing down the best team in the country – in their own barn, no less – Sank stood tall, stopping 77 of 83 shots against UBC.

In Friday's 4-1 loss, she stopped 34 of 36 as MacEwan was outshot 38-21.

In Saturday's 5-2 defeat, Sank stopped 43 of 47 as MacEwan was outshot 48-20.

For the season, Sank has a .916 save percentage and 2.48 goals against average in logging the third-most minutes in the conference (1,257:04). She's also faced the second-most shots of any goaltender in Canada West (618).

Sank and the Griffins have a home-and-home series against Mount Royal University on Friday (7 p.m. in Calgary) and Saturday (5 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).

Toni Gordon tied two rookie records with her multi-category production against Manitoba on the weekend (Dave Mahussier photo).

2^nd STAR: Toni Gordon, G, women's basketball

Edmonton, AB, first-year, Science

One of just eight healthy players the Griffins had for a weekend series at Manitoba, Toni Gordon stepped up with the first double double of her Canada West career, recorded a combined 21 rebounds in two games and matched two program rookie records.

In Friday's 65-51 loss to the Bisons, Gordon had two points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 27 minutes. Her 11 rebounds matched the program's single game rookie record, previously reached twice by Kayla Ivicak in the 2014-15 season.

In Saturday's 73-56 loss to Manitoba, Gordon recorded 10 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, three steals and three blocks. Her three blocks matched the program's single game rookie record, previously set by Hallie Watt in 2017-18.

For the season, Gordon is fifth on the Griffins in points (5.0 per game), third in rebounds (6.3) and leads the team in blocks (0.8).

Gordon and the Griffins will visit Lethbridge on Friday (8 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m., both Canada West TV).

Matthew Osunde scored 33 points, adding 10 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals in two games against Canada West leader Manitoba (Dave Mahussier photo).