VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team used a balanced offensive attack to overpower the Mount Royal University Cougars by a score of 67-46 in an exhibition game at War Memorial Gym Thursday night.
“Early on like this, it's nice to have an opportunity to get on the floor and have the officials officiating and have a chance to play against an opponent other than yourselves,” said UBC head coach
Deb Huband. “So I think it was a chance for us to get everybody on the floor and see how some combinations worked, see how we look with small lineups, big lineups, and give people a chance to show us what they're capable of.”
Forward
Leigh Stansfield (4th, Victoria, BC) tied a career-high by scoring 16 points to lead UBC.
The fourth-year player also scored 16 points on November 21, 2008 against Simon Fraser.
“She's been practicing very, very well since we came back for the season,” said Huband. “I thought she was a real solid influence for us in the paint, both offensively and defensively.”
UBC put the game away with a 16-2 run over a 6:40 period that began late in the first quarter. It turned a 19-16 Thunderbirds lead into a 17-point advantage. Mt. Royal closed the gap to single-digits just once more after the run.
UBC also got 15 points from
Zara Huntley (5th, Halifax, NS) and 11 from
Alex Vieweg (5th, North Vancouver, BC), while rookie
Cassandra Knievel (1st, Nanaimo, BC) recorded ten points in her debut for the Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds outscored Mt. Royal in the paint 40-24 while the Cougars struggled from the outside, going 1-18 from beyond the three-point line.
The visitors also lost the turnover battle, giving the ball up 30 times compared to 26 for the Thunderbirds.
UBC shot 44% from the field while Mt. Royal shot 33%.
The Cougars lost for the first time in the preseason and will play Trinity Western on Friday afternoon.
The Thunderbirds' next three games will take place in Edmonton at the University of Alberta Hoopfest, which begins on October 21.
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