KELOWNA – The Thunderbirds scorched their counterparts, the UBC Okanagan Heat, by 30 points on Friday night in Kelowna. Led by
Leigh Stansfield's (Victoria, BC) 18 points and seven rebounds, they took the game by a final score of 84-54.
BOX SCORE
The Thunderbirds crushed the Heat inside and were up by as many as 16 points in the first half, but a bit of a Heat rally towards the end made it 40-30 for the Thunderbirds at halftime.
While they shot 50 percent from the floor on the night, the Thunderbirds were hovering around 20 percent from beyond the arch throughout the first three quarters. But at the start of the fourth,
Jaime Hills (North Vancouver, BC) came in and hit three consecutive three's in less than two minutes. The rookie had a breakout game, drilling 5-5 from three-point range and totalling a career high 17 points in just 15 minutes.
“I was in the rhythm, it's a good feeling to have, and I just kept going with it. When I get in the zone, I don't really even think about anything. So it was nice because I haven't really been like that this season,” said Hills.
“We had really good movement and we've been working on that a lot in practice this week, so it's nice when you see stuff you've been working on in practice apply in the games,” she added.
“It's fun to see somebody on fire like that,” said head coach
Deb Huband, who was thrilled to see her rookie flourish. Huband wasn't surprised, noting that Hills had always been a good shooter throughout her high school career, so it was just a matter of time.
“She can really shoot the ball. I think she's done that in stretches that we've seen over the season, but today she was just flushing them. Even when we ran a few little looks for her to get the three she answered and got the three. She created a lot on her own and then her teammates created some for her by making the extra pass when she was in rhythm.”
While the Thunderbirds were in control the entire game, their lead was pretty much all from points in the paint until Hills got hot. Despite some good looks, mid-to-long range jumpers just weren't falling. Even
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC), the team's scoring leader this season, had an uncharacteristic off-night, going 5-16. She was often being tightly guarded by her former Handsworth Secondary teammate, Angela White (North Vancouver, BC). Having said that, like all good leaders, Young found other ways to contribute even when she wasn't shooting the ball as well as she usually does, and she still finished with 11 points. “It was a bit of a rough night for Kris,” Huband admitted. “But she got 8 boards for us and some steals and some assists which is good.”
The relentless Thunderbirds finished the game with 22 fouls for and just nine against. The Heat converted 19 of 27 shots from the line, which is actually almost 10 percent lower than the Canada West leading 78% they are maintaining this season. Remarkably, the Thunderbirds made all 12 of their free throws tonight, including six from Stansfield.
Victoria Spangehl (White Rock, BC) also hit both of her free throws on route to her 10 points and seven boards, the fourth Thunderbird in double digits today.
Adrienne Parkin (Vancouver, BC) nearly made it five as she finished with nine points and added five rebounds.
The Heat finished the game shooting a collective 29 percent from the floor. They were by three players who had nine points a piece. This trio included fifth-year guards Madison Kaneda (Vernon, BC) and Emily Kanester (Vernon, BC), as well as rookie Jessica Jazdarehee (Coquitlam, BC). Kaneda also had a team-high eight rebounds.
Tonight's victory improves the Thunderbirds' record to 11-5 this season, while the Heat slip to 5-11. The two team's will return to UBC Okanagan's campus gym, also known as “The Furnace”, for a rematch tomorrow night at 5 p.m. Once again, the game will be livestreamed at
www.canadawest.tv.
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