VANCOUVER - The no. 10 ranked Alberta Pandas (5-1) picked up a hard fought 57-53 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds (2-2) at War Memorial Gym on Saturday night.
The victory gave Alberta a perfect 2-0 record on a tough west coast swing that saw them in Victoria last night while the 'Birds come away with a 1-1 record for their efforts after a big upset of no. 2 ranked Saskatchewan on Friday.
Emily Bolduc and Marisa Haylett led the Pandas over the T-Birds with 15 and 16 points respectively and the duo was a combined 14-for-20 from the free throw line. Bolduc also added a team-best nine boards.
Zara Huntley responded for the T-Birds with a game-high 17 points, including 10 in a perfect 5-for-5 field goal performance in the first half, with
Arianne Duchesne adding 12 off the bench.
A defensive first half saw the Pandas leading 13-10 at the end of the first quarter with a five point run to close the frame.
The Pandas increased their lead to seven early in the second quarter but an 11-0 run that saw four different T-Birds score was enough to have the hosts up 23-21 at the half.
The third quarter saw an offensive explosion from both teams as they went back and forth with the frame ending all knotted at 44 when Duchesne nailed a three-pointer with just 15 seconds left in the frame.
Alberta took a quick lead in the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run over the first two minutes capped off by a Haylett jumper.
The T-Birds whittled down the lead to a single basket, trailing 54-51 with 1:20 remaining, however, Haylett and Bolduc iced the game going 3-for-4 from the line during the final 30 seconds.
The Pandas were a combined 24-for-37 from the line, while UBC got the charity stripe just eights times for the night.
UBC travels to Thompson Rivers next week with games on Thursday and Friday while the Pandas host Regina for a pair of games in Edmonton.
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