VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds ended a four-game losing streak on Saturday night and will head into the playoffs on a high note thanks to a 66-58 win over the Trinity Western Spartans at War Memorial Gym.
The T-Birds led for the whole game, thanks in large part to their effort in the post.
Zara Huntley finished with a double-double, leading her team with 10 rebounds while chipping in 11 points.
Montanna Dunmore drew several fouls and made the most of her time on the court with five rebounds and nine points, while
Leigh Stansfield shot 4-for-4 from the field and also had five boards.
"We've got four bigs that are pretty interchangeable" said
Deb Huband. "They can all go in and do some things for us so we have good depth there, and that was one of the differences between the teams today."
The first quarter was closely contested until a six-point possession by UBC earned some separation for the home side. With the 'Birds up 10-9, Dunmore hit her first free-throw attempt to make it 11-9, then missed her second. The T-Birds collected the rebound and
Arianne Duchesne hit a three-pointer, extending the lead to 14-9. Duchesne then picked off the inbound pass and scored again, inflating the T-Bird lead from one point to seven within a few seconds.
"Arianne brings a lot of energy to the floor," said Huband. "She's a really feisty competitor."
From that point on, the T-Birds benefited from a cushion that fluctuated between seven and 13 points. The Spartans drew to within five at one point in the fourth and were hard to put away, but were never able to fight all the way back after falling behind late in the first.
"We went deep in the bench today and got a lot of people involved in the game," said Huband. "Sometimes that affects your chemistry and I think it did but we battled through that and it was nice to get the win."
Alex Vieweg led UBC with 19 points. Along with Dunmore,
Candace Morisset was playing in her last home game for the Thunderbirds, as the pair will be graduating this year. Morisset chipped in a game-high four steals and played 34 minutes on Saturday.
Lauren Doubroff finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans. Her side finished the year with a 5-13 record.
The T-Birds finish the regular season in third place in the Pacific Division at 11-7. They will be on the road against Alberta for their first-round best-of-three playoff series beginning February 26.
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