The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds won their preseason home court debut on Thursday night, taking down the visiting Warner Pacific Knights 81-56 at War Memorial Gym to improve to 4-1 in non-conference play.
 
The T-Birds had four players score in double digits, including fourth-year transfer from the University of Nebraska Harleen Sidhu, who was making her home court debut in the blue and gold on Thursday.
 
Sidhu had 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds in 26 minutes of action. She also locked down the paint defensively with three blocks.
 
"Harleen is a quality player and person, and we're ecstatic to have her here," said UBC head coach Deb Huband. "We tried to get her out of high school, but she took that little detour down to Nebraska. She's working off a bit of rust, but she's getting better every day. She brings a lot of intangibles and a lot of basketball IQ, so she's going to be a big part of what we do."
 
Stephanie Bell helped get the 'Birds off to a quick start by hitting her first three shots to account for UBC's first six points, all down low under the basket. That helped set the tone for UBC to control the paint on both ends of the  court, getting a lot of good looks from in close and outshooting the Knights 53 per cent to 38 per cent from the field. Bell finished with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting, as well as six boards.
 
Reigning Canada West MVP Kris Young set the pace for the offence with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting. She also had four assists and three steals as she rounds into form after a slow start to the preseason due to an illness.
 
"She's an All-Canadian caliber player and we have high expectations for her. She's getting better and better every year and she's ready for big things," Huband said.
 
Maggie Sundberg was the fourth T-Bird in double digits, as she added 10 points, four assists and two steals.
 
Jordan Wilcox led the Knights with 15 points. Jacki Cnnon had 10 points and five rebounds.
 
The T-Birds finish their preseason schedule on Friday with a tilt against Brock University at War Memorial Gym, beginning at 6 p.m.
 
"They've played a lot of games this preseason so they will be almost midseason form, and they have a lot of returning players too," Huband said of Brock. "They are a hard-nosed team with a couple post players who can really play and guards who can really shoot."
 
After that, the regular season opener awaits on November 1 on the road against Regina, and then November 2 in Brandon. UBC's regular season home opener is November 8, when they start a two-game series with the Trinity Western Spartans.
 
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