The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – Fourth-year transfer Harleen Sidhu introduced herself to Thunderbirds fans with a huge 31-point, 15-rebound performance in her CIS regular season home debut, propelling UBC to a 77-61 win over the Trinity Western Spartans on Friday night at War Memorial Gym.

BOX SCORE
 
Sidhu went 15-for-22 from the field to set a UBC record for field goals made in a single game, and was a force on the glass at both ends of the court, with seven offensive rebounds and eight defensive to help UBC win the rebounding battle by a +12 margin.
 
"She was on a mission tonight. You could see she really wanted to step up," UBC head coach Deb Huband said of Sidhu's effort. "We needed a little more leadership on the floor to get the little things done, and rebounding was one of the topics we wanted to address. A lot of the players did that, but Harleen getting 15 rebounds is pretty impressive."
 
The T-Birds had the edge in terms of height in the front court, and they put it to good use against the Spartans, outscoring them in the paint 58-28, and 15-8 on second chance opportunities.
 
"We knew we had the size advantage. We want that to be our first look anyways (scoring in the paint), and we really haven't gotten to the point yet where we can be consistent with that, so this was a really good sign that we were working hard for position in the paint and then rewarding people for that by getting them the ball," said Huband.
 
Despite having a bit of an off-night with her shot, reigning conference MVP Kris Young found other ways to contribute for the 'Birds, adding 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks to her nine points.
 
Stephanie Bell scored 11 for UBC on 5-for-5 shooting down low, and Cassandra Knievel added 10 points.
 
The Spartans started the game white-hot offensively, shooting a shade under 70 per cent in the first quarter as they racked up 27 points. But the second quarter was a whole different ball game, with the 'Birds outscoring the Spartans 22-4 in the frame to open up a big lead which they never relinquished.
 
"I think Trinity started the game really hot. You gotta hope a team is going to cool down a little bit, but we also needed to pay attention to some little things defensively, and maybe we were a bit better at that after the first quarter," Huband said. "Giving up that many points in the first is always unsettling, but I liked the way we responded in the second."
 
Trinity Western shot less than 23 per cent from the field after their first quarter burst. UBC shot 45 per cent for the game.
 
Holly Strom continued her solid start to the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds for Trinity Western. Maddie Lougheed and Chantelle Martin each had 10 points.
 
UBC improves to 2-1, while the Spartans fall to 1-2. The teams will clash again on Saturday night at War Memorial to wrap up the weekend series.
 
-30-