VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team lost to the UFV Cascades in a double overtime heartbreaker. In a dramatic turnaround from Friday night's blowout, the final score tonight was 88-82.
BOX SCORE
Once again, point guard Aieisha Luyken (Mission, BC) was the game-changer for the Cascades. She somehow came up with a loose ball rebound and hit a heroic buzzer beater to send the game into double overtime. The irony was that it was actually a great defensive possession for UBC, but Luyken was able to grab the ball when it bounced around in the fight for the rebound and no one else could get their hands on it. She finished the game with 16 points and six assists.
Nicole Wierks (Chilliwack, BC) had another strong night for the Cascades, leading her team with 21 points. Her sister Sarah (Chilliwack, BC) and teammates Kayli Sartori (Chilliwack, BC) and Courtney Bartel (Chilliwack, BC) all finished with double-doubles.
It was a true character revealing night for the Thunderbirds, with standout performances from
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC) and
Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC) in particular. They finished with 26 and 19 points respectively.
“We were tested and we had an opportunity after being really disappointed with our effort (last night) to come back out and see what we're made of 24 hours later,” said UBC head coach
Deb Huband.
“It just revealed that we do have character and we do have toughness. We have people who are passionate about the game and want to work hard and put it all out on the floor. I was really proud of the way the girls were able to bounce back so quickly and bring that for each other and for the team,” she added.
Huband couldn't pinpoint any one thing in particular that was different from last night's meltdown.
“I just think our overall team game was better. We're taking baby steps towards learning how to play together, share the ball, and how to make individuals better and get the most out of everybody,” she said.
The game was aggressive and physical right from the tip-off. Young took a hard elbow to the face under the basket very early on, and the bleeding kept her out of the game for the rest of the first quarter. Despite her absence, the Thunderbirds jumped to a 19-15 lead, and really established an inside game. In fact, they had more points in the paint in the first quarter than they had all night in the previous game.
Adrienne Parkin (Vancouver, BC) played a key role in this early on, getting started with six points and three boards in the opening ten minutes.
The second quarter had lots of turnovers for both sides, but UFV had a 17-11 edge on capitalizing those. Still, UBC maintained a 30-29 lead going into half time, and clearly benefitted from Young's return. She had seven points in the quarter.
UBC built up a five point lead by end of the third quarter with some clutch three-point plays and good looks from behind the arch. The physicality continued and UFV got into foul trouble. UBC took advantage of the penalty situation and made all 11 free throws in the third, including a perfect 4-4 from
Alyssa Binns (Port Moody, BC). She took some hard fouls and was visibly (and audibly) in pain, but showing her toughness, she calmly collected herself and had seven points in the third quarter alone. She finished with twelve on the night.
In the fourth and for the rest of the night,
Kris Young displayed a (Canadian soccer star) Christine Sinclair-esque toughness, leadership, and dominance. Now playing with a visible goose egg on her forehead, Young took over the game and was showing vocal leadership with her teammates as things got tight down the stretch. She scored 17 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter and the first five minute overtime period. Perhaps the most important of these was the turnaround jumper she banked off the backboard to tie the game with under a minute left.
On the next play, UBC came up with a big stop but did not signal for a timeout, and with players surrounding Young, she passed off to
Maggie Sundberg (Mansfield, CT), who unfortunately stepped out of bounds underneath the basket as she received the ball. Luckily, UFV was unable to capitalize on their second opportunity, missing the shot as time expired and bringing on the first overtime.
When the game resumed, UFV struck first, and then
Kris Young answered at the other end. Luyken missed her free throw on an and-one attempt, but Sarah Wierks picked up the rebound and gave UFV a 74-70 advantage. With both teams now in foul trouble, free throws became ever more important. Young converted her three-point play half way through the extra time, and then with 1:30 remaining Sundberg went to the line and hit both shots, putting UBC ahead by one. With 35 seconds to go, Stansfield fouled out and Nicole Weirks tied the game. Stansfield had been a major inside presence for UBC, and she left the game with 19 points, including 11-16 from the line.
Young hit a floater with 21 seconds left to give UBC the lead again. Just when it looked like they had stolen the game, Luyken came up with her buzzer beater, and the Cascades outscored the Thunderbirds 10-4 in the second overtime to claim the victory. It was the first double overtime game the Thunderbirds had played since a 84-78 loss in Calgary on Valentine's Day in 2003.
Kris Young once again led the Thunderbirds in both points and rebounds (26 and nine) while shooting 50% from the floor and dishing out four assists. But it was that things that you don't see in the statistics that revealed the most about her character. “One thing the stat line won't show was that her head was split open in the first quarter. You look at it and think wow those are pretty amazing stats, but you don't realize that she was on the floor with blood and had to get things closed and is now being sent off to the hospital. That shows her will to compete and the leader that she is for our group. She put it all out there on the floor and gave us a chance to win the game,” said UBC head coach
Deb Huband.
Young wasn't the only Thunderbird who got banged up tonight. The team played with a shortened bench to begin with, and several players, including Binns, Stansfield, and
Cassandra Knievel (Nanaimo, BC) appeared to be playing through the pain. Commenting on the roughness of the game, Huband said “There were bodies all over the floor. I don't know why basketball turned into rugby like that, but there was definitely a lot of wear and tear. It's supposed to be a non-contact sport, but certainly wasn't tonight.”
However, she was pleased with the way her team responded to the Cascades' aggressiveness. “I mean if the referees are going to let it go like that, I'm glad that we were able to step up and match that kind of physicality.”
The Cascades (6-0) maintained their perfect record with tonight's win, but it was certainly their biggest challenge yet. The Thunderbirds have now dropped to a 4-2 record, but they will have to put this weekend behind them and heal up as much as possible over the next couple of days. They are heading out on the road for games against Saskatchewan and Alberta this week. “They're both tough teams, and it's a very difficult road trip because of the time change between the two places that we travel to on game days,” said Huband.
Tip-off for both of those games will be at 4 p.m. PST, with Saskatchewan up first on Friday and then Alberta on Saturday.
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