VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team returns to War Memorial Gym this weekend for their home opener against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
Coming off a silver medal performance at the 2012 CIS National Championships, the T-Birds started off this year's campaign with a pair of wins on the road against the Trinity Western Spartans. The first game was a close 60-54 victory in which the T-Birds overcame 21 turnovers and a poor 34% field goal percentage by using hustle on the boards and a solid defensive effort. They showed significant improvements at both ends the following night, shooting 54% from the floor while holding the Spartans to just 30%. The T-Birds were strong on the boards again in game two, hauling down a 16-rebound advantage.
Leading the way for the Thunderbirds are veterans
Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC),
Victoria Spangehl (White Rock, BC), and
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC), who are in their fifth, fourth and third seasons respectively. Stansfield was named a tournament all-star in both of UBC's preseason tournaments, while Young took home the MVP award when the Thunderbirds won at the HoopFest Tournament in Alberta. She had 24 points in the final game and hit a turn-around jumper to force overtime.
In the regular season opener, Young would come close to a triple double, posting 18 points, nine rebounds, and 7 assists. She came back the next night with a double-double 10 points and 12 boards. Spangehl was a monster on the boards too, grabbing 14 rebounds, including six on offensive glass, in game one, and another 10 in game two. She's also an efficient shooter, going off for 18 points in game two on just 12 field goal attempts. Stansfield was also on her mark in that game, hitting five of her six shots for 15 points.
Other notables from last weekend's wins were second-years
Cassandra Knievel (Nanaimo, BC) and
Adrienne Parkin (Vancouver, BC). Knievel got to the free line frequently in game one, and with the team shooting poorly from the field, getting the Spartans into foul trouble was a key factor in that win. She had 15 points on the night, eight of them from the line. Parkin was another example of UBC's more consistent shooting in game two, going 5-7 from the floor. UBC has five rookies this season, so look for continued improvement at both ends of the floor as the team continues to gel and new players get more experience.
In particular, look for rookie playmaker
Maggie Sundberg (Mansfield, Connecticut) to push the pace coming off the bench.
As for this weekend's opponents, the Wolfpack look to build on the huge improvements they made as a team last season. The Wolfpack made the playoffs for their first time ever in 2011-2012, and they got off to a 2-0 start this year. In their home opening weekend games, they dominated over UNBC by scores of 78-61 and 83-62. It is worth noting though that UNBC is in its first season of Canada West basketball, a difficult adjustment for any team.
The Wolfpack is lead by a strong recruiting class from 2007-08 that is now in their final year of eligibility. This trio includes forward Tracy Kocs (Port Moody BC), post Diane Schuetze (Vernon, BC), and guard Jen Ju (Vancouver, BC). At 6-foot-3, Schuetze is a force to be reckoned with, and she was on fire during opening weekend, producing back to back double-doubles. She followed up her opening night 28 points, 17 rebound performance with a 18-point, 18-rebound effort in game two, setting an example of toughness and leaving no doubts as to why she is captain of this team.
Having said that, her other fifth-year partners were no slouches either. Ju led the team in scoring in game two, going off for 27 points, while Kocs added 16 points and nine rebounds. But in that game it was actually was guard Jorri Duxbury (Salmon Arm, BC) who was named “Leader of the Pack” player of the game. She had 16 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists, rounding out a foursome of players scoring in double digits for the WolfPack. As one of the Canada West leaders in assists and minutes played last year, she is expected to be one of the top young players in the country this season.
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.
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