VANCOUVER - This weekend will be all business for the UBC Thunderbirds as they try to chase down fourth place in the Canada West standings and the right to host a conference quarterfinal series in two weeks time. On Saturday night, however, they will take the time to honour three veterans in
Arianne Duchesne,
Devan Lisson, and
Virginia Watson who are all suiting up in their final regular season home game. Also being honoured is longtime team manager Jamie Hartwell.
A look at the Thunderbirds
The T-Birds have to regroup quickly from being swept by no. 4 Regina last week, as they face a hungry Thompson Rivers squad fresh off two huge upset wins against Victoria and looking to secure a playoff spot. The 'Birds are already assured of a spot in the postseason, but with just three games separating third and sixth place in Canada West, a strong finish would likely mean the difference between hosting their first round playoff series or playing it on the road.
The T-Birds rank second in scoring defence, allowing just 58 points per game. They have the third-best turnover margin at just under +3, and they block a conference-best 4.5 shots per game.
Zara Huntley leads the league with 1.6 blocks per game, and
Alex Vieweg is fourth with 1.1.
Devan Lisson and
Lia St. Pierre deserve much of the credit for the turnover margin, as they rank first and third respectively in assist-to-turnover ratio.
In that order, those four also make up the team's scoring leaders. All four average at least 10 points, with Huntley leading the way at 12.6. She averaged 18 points against Regina last week and recorded her third double-double of the season. She is also the team's leading rebounder, pulling down almost seven boards per game. Vieweg also averages more than six rebounds. Lisson is UBC's best three-point threat, converting 40.8% of her shots from behind the arc this season. In addition to her 10 points per game, she averages a team high 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals
A look at the WolfPack
After a hot start to their season, it looked like the WolfPack were going to fade out of the playoff race down the stretch. They had lost 10 in a row before keeping their postseason hopes alive last week with a crucial sweep of in-province rivals Victoria. Now at 9-13 they tentatively hold on to the eighth and final playoff spot by a game over Fraser Valley. But Fraser Valley has two games in-hand, and their final two opponents are 4-16 Lethbridge and 0-20 Brandon. They also have the head-to-head tiebreaker against Thompson Rivers, so the 'Pack need to make the most out of this weekend to have a chance for their record to hold up as playoff-worthy.
Defence reigned supreme for the WolfPack last week, as they held a Victoria offence that averages almost 70 points per game to totals of 59 and 44. Diane Schuetze led the way with a double-double in game one, while Kayla Forsyth paced the team with a season-high 18 points in game two, well above her season average of 5.5. Schuetze averages just under 12 points per game to go along with her team-leading 7.7 rebounds. She also boasts the best field goal percentage of any of the WolfPack's regulars at .387, which illustrates TRU's biggest problem this year. Their offence has been anything but efficient, ranking third-last in the conference with a .335 team field goal percentage. Kaitlin Widsten averages 12.2 points as their top scorer, but even she shoots just .304 from the field.
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