VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds picked up their first home win of the season on Friday night, beating the Fraser Valley Cascades 60-49 at War Memorial Gym on the strength of a
Zara Huntley double-double.
Strong fourth quarter defence and free throw shooting by the T-Birds was the difference, as they held the Cascades to 3-for-13 field goal shooting and hit eight of nine shots from the stripe in the frame. Huntley led the charge in the fourth with seven points and five rebounds. She finished with 11 points and a game-high 12 boards in the game.
The T-Birds looked like they would put the game away early in the third, as they began the quarter with a 26-21 lead and promptly went on a 7-0 run to extend the advantage to double digits. But Tessa Klassen led the Cascades on a 9-0 run in response to cut the lead down to three, forcing the home side to come up big in the fourth quarter to kill their momentum and close out the game.
"I was happy to get in the win column at home for sure," said UBC head coach
Deb Huband. "They went on a few runs and then we would surge back, so it was nice to see us finish strong and have some solid defensive stops and possessions in the fourth quarter."
The 'Birds held the Cascades to 34.6 per cent shooting from the field, and the visitors were 3-for-9 from three-point range, well below their conference-leading .413 percentage for the season. UBC managed just 26 points in the first half but started to come on in the second. They shot 40 per cent from the field.
"I thought our defence was pretty solid and we were successful in taking them away from some of their strengths," said Huband. "Offensively there were moments when we started to flow and had some good team play but still it's an area that we need to work on."
Alex Vieweg led the 'Birds with 13 points. She also had three of UBC's eight blocks.
Devan Lisson had 11 points and shot 50 per cent from three point range.
Klassen led the Cascades with 12 points. Alyssa Gaukel chipped in 10 and had four rebounds.
The Cascades are now 2-5 and riding a five-game losing streak, while the T-Birds move to 4-5 with their first win at War Memorial Gym. They will look to make it two in a row on Saturday when they meet the Cascades at 6 p.m. to finish this weekend series.
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