VANCOUVER - Last year a young Thunderbirds squad, led by eventual conference MVP
Kris Young and their lone fifth-year senior
Leigh Stansfield, battled to a second-place finish in the Pacific Division and a home court playoff series. But the 'Birds were also battling injuries as they geared up for their fourth-straight first round series against Alberta, and the Golden Bears got the best of them in a pair of close games, including one overtime finish, ending UBC's season for the third time in that four-year stretch.
"We were a young team, and we were a little undermanned with
Cassandra Knievel having broken her arm at the end of the regular season, which left us even younger going into that series," said UBC head coach
Deb Huband, whose team was also dealing with nagging injuries to multiple other players.
"You try to prepare to peak at the right time and have a good showing in the postseason, so it was quite a heartbreaking end last year. Canada West has a lot of quality teams, and once you hit playoffs, most teams there have a chance to go pretty far, so you have to be on your game and hopefully be healthy, which is a big key going into the postseason, and that hurt us last year."
Stansfield is the only departure due to eligibility for the 'Birds from last season. But due to chronic injury issues, the 'Birds will also be without fourth-year forward
Victoria Spangehl, who started 15 games for UBC last year and tied for the team lead in rebounds, as well as third-year guards
Alyssa Binns and
Zana Williams.
Losing Stansfield and Spangehl left an already young T-Birds squad looking particularly green in the low post, but Huband has brought in a pair of transfer players to address the situation, including Surrey native
Harleen Sidhu, who began her college career at the University of Nebraska.
"We are very young still, with
Kris Young being the only fourth year who has played her four years at UBC," said Huband. "Adding Harleen as a fourth year brings a lot of versatility, skills and leadership, which is terrific, but it's her first year on campus too, and she hasn't played for a year and a half, so getting the rust off and back up to speed, and getting comfortable with Canada West basketball and our style of play, takes some time."
Sidhu missed time at Nebraska due to some injury issues of her own, but she's looked good adapting to a high-minutes workload in the preseason, having been a double-double threat in every game so far and coming away with 15 boards and 17 points the team's final exhibition game.
"She's a big addition. She was somebody we were trying to get out of high school. She's a high quality player that can step in and make a difference, and she already has in the preseason. Every game she's more confident and comfortable, and we're looking for her to fill some of the void left by losing two post players."
The other new addition to the front lines is third-year Capilano University transfer
Lauren Seabrook. She's been sidelined with a broken bone in her hand, but is expected to return to the court in the next couple weeks to contribute some physicality in the low post. Both Sidhu and Seabrook should see plenty of minutes in a front court that will be supplemented by third years
Stephanie Bell and
Adrienne Parkin.
"[Parkin] has been our third-year player that's probably played the most out of that recruiting class, so she has a lot of good experience and a strong basketball IQ. We just need her to step forward and be more assertive. Sometimes as a third year you think 'oh, there's older people to take care of things' but really with Kris being our only experienced fourth year player, we need our third years to assert themselves and be more like fourth and fifth-year players."
Second-years
Andrea Strujic,
Jaime Hills and
Susan Thompson, as well as UBC's lone true freshman, Kamilia Wojciechowski, and fourth-year wing
Erika Vieweg who is also currently dealing with injures, round out the front court group.
At the guard spots, the 'Birds can go in a few different directions with a versatile group of players, but it all starts with reigning Canada West MVP
Kris Young, who finished in the top 10 in conference scoring, assists, rebounding and steals.
"She's had a great career so far," Huband said. "Last year she had to really produce for us consistently and was rewarded by being MVP, but we're hoping this year there's a little more support and depth for her, and our younger girls are ready to take on more responsibility so she won't feel quite as much on her shoulders. Having said that, with your top players you're looking for consistency, leadership and resilience through difficulty. She has to lead us on and off the court, and she's been doing a good job of that but there's always areas she can continue to grow in."
Better consistency defensively and on the boards are areas Huband hopes to see Young improve in as the team improves around her to take some pressure off her. And it's not just Young, but the team in general, that will need to improve defensively for the 'Birds to get back to championship form.
"We've always been successful based on the strength of our defence, and last year I don't think it was where it needed to be," Huband said. "It slid a bit and we need to rediscover that UBC defence that has led us to national championships in the past."
One thing that should help the defence is getting Knievel back from injury. She has good size for a guard at nearly six feet, and the ball skills to play either guard spot, allowing her to take advantage of her length at both ends of the floor. She's also been known to heat up from deep, and will be a key floor spacer when healthy.
The 'Birds also have second-year point guard
Maggie Sundberg coming off 13 starts as a rookie, and redshirt freshman
Cherub Lum, all showing signs of deserving major minutes, so Huband will have some options in terms of personnel packages this season. She knows that with such a young team there is lots of room for things to shuffle around as players grow individually and as a team, though she hopes to eventually whittle things down to a reliable core rotation of six or seven as the 'Birds look to build up for another playoff push.
"I think there are a number of ways we can go in terms of using a smaller lineup or bigger lineup. It's a work in progress, but we'll see who we're playing and what lineup might be best suited on a week-to-week basis, but we do want to get to the point where there's maybe six or seven players primarily fighting for the starting spots, knowing that the other one or two will be playing a substantial roll off the bench. A big part of it is establishing chemistry on the floor. It may not always be your best five players starting, but the ones who consistently work well together and understand what we're trying to do as a team will be the ones who produce well as a unit."
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