The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team succumbed to a determined Fraser Valley Cascades outfit 71-43, a result that ended their winning streak of three games and well as the Cascades' three- game losing skid.

BOX SCORE
 
For the second night in a row, UBC started slowly and were made to pay straight from the first whistle. They soon fell behind 11-3 halfway through the first quarter and whereas the night before they were able to rally and go on a scoring run of their own, they experienced serious difficulty finding points to answer the Cascades.

If last night was all about the combined defensive effort, tonight was the tale of two offences.  UFV made the Thunderbirds pay down low and the Wierks sisters relished the time and space they were able to find. As UBC clued in on this and tried to clog the lanes, this left space on the perimeter and the likes of Kaylie Sartori and Nataliia Gavryliuk were able to capitalize on this with some uncontested outside shots.
 
The Thunderbirds, contrastingly, just had one of those nights. All the things that worked for them the night before proved fruitless this evening. Just 24 hours earlier, the tear-drop passes inside for Harleen Sidhu left the Cascades with no answer as she scored with ease off her right and left hands. Tonight, the passes were intercepted and when Sidhu did claim them, she was swarmed by Fraser Valley defenders immediately. 

UBC closed the deficit to 13-8 late in the first quarter but Fraser Valley went on a 22-0 run that bridged the first and second periods. The Cascades continued to build their lead in the third, going up 35 points on a layup by Aieisha Luyken. 
 
The shots just wouldn't fall for the 'Birds. They were held to 21 per cent shooting from the floor and 19 per cent shooting from beyond the arc. The most telling statistic of the night has to be the disparity in rebounding. UFV collected 45 boards to UBC's 27. Last night's tied rebound total of 58-58 was reflected in a close two-point game.
 
Sidhu got the better of Sarah Wierks last night, but Wierks recorded a double-double just before half-time on Saturday and ended the game with 22 points and 13 rebounds.  
 
Jaime Hills top-scored for the Thunderbirds with 10 and scored all of her points in the final quarter. All of the five starters were held to single-digit totals.
 
UBC and UFV both move to 7-3 and stay tied for first in the Pacific Division going into the Christmas break.
 
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