VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds host the Fraser Valley Cascades during their second of three straight weeks at home, looking to avenge a pair of losses last weekend to the visiting Winnipeg Wesmen.
On Friday, the T-Birds will honour this year's recipient of the Ruth Wilson Memorial Award immediately following their game. A social function, in honour of this occasion, is then scheduled for Room 100.
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A look at the Thunderbirds
The T-Birds' offence had been rolling in recent weeks, posting at least 70 points in four straight games until they ran up against the undefeated Winnipeg Wesmen last week. The Wesmen swept the 'Birds and held them to their two lowest scoring totals of the season, as they managed 61 and 50 points last Friday and Saturday respectively.
The T-Birds are currently in the midst of the longest homestand on their regular season schedule, with two more weekends at War Memorial Gym carrying them to the holiday break. They have just two home series on the schedule after the break though, making this an important stretch for a team that has yet to make the most of home court advantage. The T-Birds are 3-1 on the road this year but 0-4 at home.
Although they have several capable contributors on offence, the T-Birds are still looking for someone to emerge as a consistent threat to put up big point totals.
Zara Huntley,
Devan Lisson,
Alex Vieweg and
Lia St. Pierre all average between nine and 11 points-per-game, but Huntley's 10.8 points-per-game is the second-lowest team-leading scoring average in Canada West.
A look at the Cascades
The Cascades have fallen on hard times since beginning the season 2-0. They went 0-4 against Saskatchewan and Victoria over the past two weeks, losing by 10 points on average during that stretch. Those are two of Canada West's best however, as Victoria leads the conference at 8-0 and the 6-2 Saskatchewan Huskies' only two losses came against Victoria, so don't count the Cascades out just yet.
They lead the conference with a .413 three-point field goal percentage, but also have the worst three-point defence with an opponent three-point percentage of .376, so the perimeter battle will be an important one this weekend. Tessa Klassen and Aieisha Luyken are their top snipers, both shooting .526 from three-point range while averaging 11 and 9.3 points-per-game respectively.
Sarah and Nicole Wierks handle most of the rebounding duties for Fraser Valley. Sarah averages 9.5 boards, second only to Winnipeg's Stephanie Kleysen in that category. Nicole is second on the team with 4.2 rebounds-per-game.
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