VANCOUVER – This weekend's women's basketball action at War Memorial Gym features a clash between the top two teams in the Canada West Pacific Division. Both UBC and their rivals, the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, are undefeated at 4-0 so far this season. In a tough matchup, UBC will look to upset the Cascades, who are ranked number two nationally in the latest CIS poll.
No. 10 UBC Thunderbirds (4-0, 1.000)
Last Week: 75-71 W, 72-70 W vs Thompson Rivers
After opening their regular season with relatively easy victories on the road against Trinity Western, UBC was pushed to the brink in both games against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack last weekend. While they got what they needed in the end, poor defense prevented the Thunderbirds from pulling away from the WolfPack, and head coach
Deb Huband lamented, “we need to improve our defence, we can't give up 70 points a game.”
Although there is much to be improved upon, those games were not without their bright spots. Thunderbird fans were treated to exciting, game-changing performances from second and third year guards
Cassandra Knievel (Nanaimo, BC) and
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC), respectively. With four minutes to go in Friday night's game and UBC down by six points, Knievel hit three three-pointers in the span of a minute, igniting her team, who had been down by as many as 12 points. The open looks were made possible by Young, who drew double-teams closer to the basket and found Knievel in rhythm. Knievel went on to score a career-high 20 points, while Young put up 17 of her own. On Saturday night, Young dominated the game all-around, leading with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. She's averaging 16.8 points and 9.5 rebounds and shooting 45% from the floor so far this season.
Rookie point guard
Maggie Sundberg (Mansfield, CT) showed on Saturday night that she can get things going off the bench for UBC. She had one of her better games thus far, scoring nine points and dishing out three assists. Fourth-year forward
Victoria Spangehl (White Rock, BC) is averaging a team-high 11.3 rebounds, and the Thunderbirds as a team have the best rebound margin in Canada West, out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 12 boards. They'll need all the second chances they can get against the Cascades, who boast the best defense and best scoring margin in the league (49.8 points allowed and +19.0 points, compared to 61.8 and 8.8 for UBC). Making the most of their free throw opportunities will be a key as well. The Thunderbirds have been doing a good job of getting to the line, but are shooting a weak 57% there so far this season.
No. 2 UFV Cascades (4-0, 1.000)
Last Week: 63-49 W, 62-52 W vs UVIC
The Cascades began their season in Alberta with two landslide victories over Mount Royal. They didn't have much trouble in their home openers last weekend against Victoria either, and thus far are leading Canada West with the best field goal percentage, points allowed, and scoring margin. They have not really been challenged yet so far, so the question for the Cascades will be whether or not their tight defense can remain intact against a quality offensive team. Sisters Nicole and Sarah Wierks (Chilliwack, BC) are leading the way, each averaging over 12 points per game and shooting over 50% from the field. Both are good at getting to the free throw line and can pick up on the glass as well. Also look out for veteran guards Courtney Bartel (Chilliwack, BC) and Aieisha Luyken (Mission, BC), who both have the ability to go off for a lot of points and are averaging in the double digits.
GAME TIMES
Tip-off at War Memorial Gym is set for 6 p.m. Friday night, and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Tickets for UBC Thunderbirds home games are $10 for adults, $5 for youth/seniors/UBC staff/visiting students, and just $2 for UBC students and UNA members. Kids under 6 get in for free! Alternatively, live stats and video can be found at
www.canadawest.tv.
