VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds took both games from a tough Victoria Vikes squad on the road this weekend, and will now look forward to their playoff series against Alberta after wrapping up their regular season with a 71-61 win on Saturday night.
The teams traded slim leads for much of the first half until a key stretch late in the second quarter. Chloe St. Amour was only on the floor for four minutes on Saturday, but her six points were important ones, as they stretched a six-point UBC lead into a 12 point lead in thirty seconds.
First she grabbed a steal and nailed a three-pointer to put her side up 34-25, and after a T-Bird stop at the defensive end she again took aim from long range and sunk the shot, putting her side up by double digits.
The UBC lead hovered around 10 points for the rest of the night, never dipping below eight thanks to solid free throw shooting. The 'Birds hit 16 of their 19 attempts from the stripe to keep the Vikes at bay.
"There was a lot of fouling down the stretch and we were able to shoot very efficiently from the free throw line, so it was good to see us handle that so well and keep the game in-hand as time ran down," said UBC head coach
Deb Huband.
Huband was also impressed with her team's ability to adjust to different defensive schemes from the Vikes.
"Over the course of the weekend they threw six or seven different defenses at us," Huband said. "I think the girls did a good job of adjusting on the fly and it was a good opportunity for us to learn and continue to grow our leadership on the floor."
Zara Huntley led the T-Birds with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and she also haunted Vikes shooters all night with five blocks.
The Vikes shot just 28 per cent from the field, but also shot well from the free throw line to keep within striking distance. They picked up almost half of their point total from the line, where they shot 83 per cent for the night.
Senior Vanessa Forstbauer led the Vikes with 16 points and nine rebounds in her final CIS home game.
Kris Young,
Alex Vieweg and
Lia St. Pierre all cracked double digits in scoring for UBC.
The Vikes finish the year at 15-9, and will head out on the road next week to take on the Regina Rams in their best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal series.
The T-Birds wind up at 17-7, and will be in Alberta for their quarterfinal series against the Pandas next week.
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