VANCOUVER - The No. 9 UBC Thunderbirds won the Ranger Inspection Holiday Hoops women's basketball tournament in Calgary on Sunday with a 66-56 victory over the McMaster Marauders.
BOX SCORE
The Thunderbirds finished the event undefeated in three games.
"The girls had to dig deep today for the third game in three days. For 30 minutes we played with energy and focus but we were unable to sustain it throughout the fourth," said UBC head coach
Deb Huband.
After a back-and-forth opening quarter that ended 16-13 in favour of UBC, the Thunderbirds took control of the game late in the second. With 3:46 left in the period,
Alyssa Binns (Port Moody, BC) hit a jump shot to break a 22-22 tie. It was the start of a 12-1 run that extended into the third quarter.
The Thunderbirds continued to build their lead, extending it to 20 points (52-32) when
Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC) made a layup with 36 seconds left in the quarter. Stansfield recorded a career high with 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the field. She also had seven rebounds. Her previous career best was a 21-point game, also against Calgary, earlier this year on Nov. 30.
"Leigh had a dominating outing and was efficient offensively and effective defensively," said Huband. "
Zana Williams had a strong showing in her tournament debut after being sidelined with a knee injury. Overall, the team shows signs of growth and improvement and I'm excited for the second part of the season."
UBC led by as many as 22 points before McMaster went on a 10-0 run in the final 1:36 of the game to close to within 10 points at the final whistle.
Victoria Spangehl (White Rock, BC) added 11 points for UBC, while
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC) had nine points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
Zana Williams (Vancouver, BC) had eight points off the bench.
UBC was dominant inside. The 'Birds won the rebounding battle 43-35 and scored 34 points in the paint compared to McMaster's 18.
UBC also held their opponents to just 19 of 63 shooting from the field.
The team will return home to Vancouver to prepare for the first regular season games of 2013, which will take place Jan. 11-12 in Winnipeg.
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