VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds look to extend their winning streak to eight games this weekend as they host the Calgary Dinos for a pair at War Memorial Gym. Saturday evening in an alumni night, with all former T-Birds encouraged to come out and support the current UBC squad.
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A look at the Thunderbirds
The T-Birds kept busy over the break by going 3-1 in exhibition action, including an overtime win over former Canada West rival SFU and a two-point loss in the finals of the Concordia-Reebok Tournament in Montreal. Their work during the holidays paid off when conference play resumed last week, as they kicked off the new year with a big 73-37 win over Manitoba, and then completed the road sweep with a 66-55 triumph the following night. That 11-point win tied their smallest margin of victory during their current six-game conference win streak.
The scoring load is distributed almost evenly between four of the T-Birds' regular starters.
Lia St. Pierre,
Devan Lisson,
Alex Vieweg and
Zara Huntley all average between 9.8 and 12.2 points per game, with Huntley topping the list. Huntley and Vieweg also handle most of the rebounding duties, averaging 6.0 and 5.8 rebounds per game respectively, and they are the main reasons the 'Birds lead the conference in shot blocking, each averaging more than a block per game.
Lisson, a fifth-year point guard, is easily the team's top three-point threat, connecting on 42.9% of her shots, despite firing more than twice as many as any other T-Bird. She also leads the team with 4.4 assists and 2.4 steals per contest.
A look at the Dinos
The Dinos salvaged a split last weekend against Fraser Valley, who currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot, but their postseason hopes are still slipping away at 4-8 on the year, and they need a big effort against the 'Birds to make up ground before they fall any further behind.
Offence has been hard to come by for the Dinos, but they have made it tough on their opponents to score this year as well. They are fourth in opponent field goal percentage, first in three-point defence, and third in steals. Both Megan Lang and Tamara Jarrett are averaging more than two steals per game.
Ashley Hill leads the team with 14.6 points per game and is coming off her fourth game of the year with at least 20 points, but she is the only Dino averaging more than 10 points for the year. She and Lang are the only major three-point threats on the team, but neither are shooting with great efficiency from behind the arc, so the Dinos might struggle to stretch out the tough T-Bird defence.
That will put more responsibility on forwards like Alex Cole to score inside. She is second on the team with 9.5 points while leading the Dinos in rebounding, and she is also coming off a big offensive weekend against Fraser Valley, where she averaged more than 15 points.
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