VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds close the first half of their Canada West regular season with a pair of games against the Lethbridge Pronghorns on a rare Thursday-Friday night schedule. Tip-off for both games is set for 6:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS
A look at the Thunderbirds
A convincing sweep of the Fraser Valley Cascades last week has the T-Birds at 5-5 on the year, and they have a good chance to keep that momentum up heading into the break as they complete a three-week homestand this weekend against a struggling Lethbridge side.
The T-Birds had two of their better performances of the year against the Cascades, and almost certainly their best single quarter of the year in game two. They outscored the visitors 17-2 in a dominant third quarter last Saturday en route to a 72-47 win.
Zara Huntley recorded her first double-double of the year on Friday, and led the 'Birds with 15 points on Saturday. She leads the team with 11.2 points-per-game and 6.2 rebounds. She's also been bothering shots as good as anyone in the league this year, as she leads Canada West with 1.7 blocks-per-game.
Alex Vieweg is third in the conference with 1.2, and the T-Birds as a team average almost a full block more than anyone else. Vieweg is also just behind Huntley in points, averaging 10.1, and rebounds with 5.8.
A look at the Pronghorns
The Horns have lost six straight and are in danger of already dropping out of playoff contention before the holiday break if they can't find some success this weekend in Vancouver. Five of those six losses have been by at least 16 points, and they have been held under 50 points in three of those games.
Statistically their make-up is similar to the T-Birds, with several players capable of leading the offence on a given night rather than one or two go-to scorers. They've had six different players lead the team in scoring through 10 games, and four players average between 7.6 and 12.6 points-per-game.
Becky Heninger is at the top of that list, and she also averages 4.3 rebounds-per-game. Lethbridge's rebounding is a similar story to their scoring, with four players averaging between 4.3 and 5.1 boards. Kimberly Veldman is their top rebounder and their most efficient scorer, though she averages less than seven points. Her field goal percentage of .481 makes her one of just two Pronghorns shooting above .400 for the year.
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