VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds return home to War Memorial Gym this weekend for the first time in 2013. Fans will welcome back a team that's now riding an eight game winning streak (5 in regular season play) and has two very different teams to prepare for in order to keep it alive. In a weekend of extremes, the Thunderbirds (9-3) will need to stay sharp and focused on Friday night against the Brandon Bobcats (0-12) as they'll be up against the Regina Cougars (11-1) on Saturday evening.
The Cougars come into town ranked #2 nationally and have not lost since they fell in overtime in their season opener against Saskatchewan, way back on November 1
st. The last team to give them a real challenge was the UFV Cascades, who came within five points of victory on December 1
st while playing on the road in Regina. Just a couple weeks before that, UBC took the Cascades to double overtime before losing by six in a memorable effort at War Memorial Gym. So while Regina is clearly one of the teams to beat in CIS women's basketball, with home crowd support and a unit that is confident and much more cohesive than earlier in the season, it is not a stretch to say that UBC could well be the team to knock them off.
GAME TIMES (both at War Memorial Gym, Vancouver)
Friday, January 18th - UBC vs. Brandon Bobcats @ 6 p.m. PST
Saturday, January 19th - UBC vs. Winnipeg @ 5 p.m. PST
#5 UBC Thunderbirds (9-3, .750)
Last Week: W 68-53 at Manitoba, W 63-48 at Winnipeg
Manitoba was indeed a friendly province to the Thunderbirds last weekend. They continued their win streak with back-to-back 15-point victories against the Manitoba Bisons and the Winnipeg Wesmen. Defence was the key on Friday night with their shooters looking a little bit rusty, making just 37% of their shots.
Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC) was the exception to this. The veteran center hit 10 of 15 shots en route to a career high 23 points to lead the way.
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC) narrowly missed back-to-back double-doubles, notching 11 points and 10 boards against Manitoba, and a game-high 20 points and nine boards versus Winnipeg. In what seems to be a trend with this team, they were stronger and more consistent on Saturday night, improving their field goal percentage to 46% while steadily building their lead with each quarter.
Brandon Bobcats (0-12, .000)
Last Week: L 72-51 vs Mount Royal, L 77-47 vs UNBC
The Bobcats are still seeking out their first victory this season and will definitely be the underdogs against a confident UBC squad. Last weekend they suffered blowout losses at home against Mount Royal and UNBC. The 21 and 30 point deficits have become typical for the struggling Bobcats, who average a league-worst 42.6 points per game and lose by 28.7 points on average. The closest they've come to a win was a heart-breaking overtime loss to Manitoba on November 9
th where they fell by just one point. They simply aren't getting enough good looks. It's hard to score many points when your team turns the ball over nearly 30 times a game and shoots under 30% from the field. Individually, second-year forward Aimee Johnston (Brandon, MB) leads the team in both points and rebounds, averaging 7.5 and 5.5 per game respectively.
#2 Regina Cougars (11-1, .917)
Last Week: W 95-47 vs UNBC, W 73-39 vs Mount Royal
The Cougars are a well-rounded team who are used to dominating their opponents and last weekend was no exception. Much to the enjoyment of their home crowd fans, they trampled the UNBC Timberwolves 95-47 on Friday night, and then took down the other Cougars from Mount Royal by 34 points on Saturday night. They average a league-best 78.9 points a game and plus 23.5 scoring margin, compared to 68.3 and plus 5.3 for UBC. While UBC's shooters are ever so slightly more efficient (42.7% versus 41.8%), defensively Regina is vastly superior, allowing their opponents to shoot just 30.6%, while UBC lets up 41.1% from the field to other teams, second worst in Canada West basketball. Regina also boasts the best rebounding margin (+16.8). The Thunderbirds once considered rebounding to be a strength of theirs and they led this category earlier in the season, but they have since slipped to a less impressive +5.8 edge.
Regina has a core of experienced veteran leaders that will pose a challenge for the young Thunderbirds. There are six Cougars playing in their fourth or fifth years, but the trio of Michelle Clark (Westlake Village, California), Brittany Read (Regina, SK), and Lindsay Ledingham (Regina, SK) stands out. As the starting point guard, Clark leads the Cougars in points (15.4) and assists (4.8) per game. Read is a center who overpowers in the paint, shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor while averaging 13.8 points and 8.9 rebounds a night. She went off for two double-doubles last weekend, getting 15 points on both nights and hauling down 17 and 11 boards, all of which were team highs. Meanwhile, Ledingham, a six foot forward, provides an additional 12.6 points and 5.5 rebounds on average, and gets herself to the free throw line frequently. In fact, all three of these women shoot above or around 80 percent from the line, so it will be important that the Thunderbirds stay out of foul trouble and maintain their composure while matching the Cougars' intensity.
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