VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team opened the 2012-13 season with a 65-61 victory over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in a first-round game at the Darcel Wright Memorial Classic, hosted by Ryerson University.
BOXSCORE (PDF file)
“It was good to get the first game under our belt and to start to evaluate where we are and where we need to go,” said UBC head coach
Deb Huband.
The Thunderbirds started well, taking a 17-8 lead into the first quarter break. UBC then scored the first seven points of the next period to go up by 16 but a Varsity Blues surge, helped by a switch to a zone defence, in the second cut the UBC lead to just 33-27 at halftime.
Rookie
Maggie Sundberg (Storrs, CT) hit a buzzer-beater just before the break to push the Thunderbirds' advantage back up to six points. Sundberg ended her first UBC game with 13 points.
Toronto came out firing in the third quarter as well, collecting the first seven points of the frame to take a 34-33 lead, their first since the opening minutes of the game. The Blues remained in their zone defence but UBC began hitting their perimeter shots and took a 39-38 advantage with 5:30 remaining in the quarter.
After Toronto regained the lead at 40-39, UBC scored the next ten points to take a 49-40 lead and never looked back.
Toronto closed to within five in the final quarter but UBC responded with 10-1 run to go up 65-51. The Blues recorded the last 10 points of the game to close the final gap to single digits.
“Our overall play was terrific at times but there was also sloppy play that allowed Toronto to go on scoring runs,” said Huband. “All 12 players had a chance to get their feet wet and we look forward to building on today in the semifinal tomorrow.”
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC) led the T-Birds with 16 points and eight assists.
Victoria Spangehl (Surrey, BC) had 10 points and eight rebounds.
The T-Birds shot an incredible 9-16 (56.3%) from beyond the three-point arc but was only 6-14 (42.9%) from the foul line.
UBC will face the University of New Brunswick in the first semifinal tomorrow at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the old Maple Leaf Gardens, in Toronto.
Tip off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Pacific.
New Brunswick advanced to the next round with a 65-62 win over Brock.
The tournament final will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m.
- with files from Andrea Elliott, Ryerson Sports Information
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