The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER - In a game dominated by defence, the UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team prevailed with some big stops down the home stretch to beat the No. 6 Fraser Valley Cascades 56-54 in their own gym.

BOX SCORE
 
It was a game that promised a lot when the top two teams in the division were destined to square off in the final two games of the 2013 calendar year. And deliver it did on that promise. It was a close, tense (but ultimately enthralling) affair that allowed neither team to accumulate a lead of over eight at any point.
 
The defence was consummate from both teams throughout the game. Both teams were held to their lowest point totals of the season as a direct result of the solid perimeter defence that both sides employed. UBC were limited to 33.3 per cent shooting and themselves held the Cascades to just 31.9 per cent. A further illustration of just how tight the game was that at full-time the rebounding totals were level at 58 apiece.
 
The home team ran out to an early lead despite missing their first five field goal attempts. UBC were a little slow out of the blocks and a couple of turnovers and a few missed shots of their own, left them 11-3 adrift five minutes into the game.
 
They rallied quickly however and closed it to 11-11 just before the end of the first quarter, and went ahead for the first time halfway through the second. The lead would change hands a further 12 times throughout the game.
 
Cassandra Knievel's shots seemed to drop when her team needed them most. She only recorded eight points on the night but late in the third when the Cascades started to pull away, a couple of timely buckets by Knievel helped her team keep in touch on the scoreboard.
 
Down four at the start of the fourth quarter, the Thunderbirds moved the ball inside and looked to score from the painted area. A couple of Kris Young jumpers from within 10 feet pulled them within reach of the Cascades. UFV turned to a zone defence for the last few minutes to try to deal with the threat of Harleen Sidhu and Young posting up. It didn't seem to work for the home side though as they just drew foul after foul in the closing exchanges, and UBC coolly went 5-for-6 at the line to win the game.
 
The Wierks sisters were again UFV's best players, Nicole leading her team in scoring and Sarah in rebounding, but they had the tough job of defending Sidhu and Young who were determined to pick up another win.
 
Sidhu led the team in scoring with 18 and picked up her fifth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds.
 
She had this to say on her dominant low-post presence: "I've been playing in the post for a long time, I started at a really young age and I'm thankful to my Dad because he got me working on that part of my game and really focused on my footwork early on."
 
"Coach talked a lot about rebounding during the week, it was something we really focused on and knew was going to be a big factor. In practice this week we worked on going to get the ball rather than letting it come to us."
 
UBC move to 7-2 and UFV to 6-3 to claim first and second positions in the Pacific Division and they will both be looking to improve on their records as they go at it again tomorrow night at the Envision Athletic Centre in Abbotsford.
 
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