VANCOUVER - It wasn't the prettiest offensive game they've played, but the UBC Thunderbirds clinched a playoff spot with a gritty 70-56 win over the Mount Royal Cougars on Friday night at War Memorial Gym, led by a double-double effort from sophomore forward
Adrienne Parkin (Vancouver, BC).
BOX SCORE
The UBC defence made life very difficult for the Cougars, holding them to 27 per cent shooting from the field. But the T-Birds' offence sputtered at times too, and the Cougars were right in the game heading into the fourth thanks to their big advantage on the glass.
Mount Royal out-rebounded UBC 51-40 and pulled down a whopping 21 offensive boards, giving them a 19-10 edge in second-chance points. They cut the UBC lead down to two points early in the fourth before Parkin hit a three-pointer and then made a three-point play the old-fashioned way on her next trip down the floor to re-inflate their cushion.
“It was the second game in two weeks where we've had that kind of shooting. I think we gutted it out and it was nice to see Adrienne step up like she did,” said UBC head coach
Deb Huband. “Give credit to them because they worked hard and hustled and got every loose ball, and you can see by their rebounding stats that we had no impact keeping them off the offensive glass which is a bit concerning.”
UBC shot 39 per cent from the floor, and suffered through a scoreless stretch of almost five minutes spanning from the late third to early fourth quarters, until Parkin's scoring burst got them rolling again. The 'Birds went on to outscore the Cougars 20-10 in the fourth and led comfortably down the stretch.
Parkin finished with a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds.
“It was nice to see her do that because I think she's been a little quiet for us this year. She's our most improved player since last year and she's been a tremendous practice player, and today she showed what she can do on the floor,” Huband said.
The 'Birds needed her unique skill-set to get things turned around against the Cougars, who were beating UBC up on the glass for the most part. Her size at the three-spot allowed her to be effective on the glass and score all over the floor.
“Being a six-foot three-(position) player, I have the ability to go inside and outside, so getting those boards was really big for us, and that was key to getting those second-chance points,” Parkin said. “Hitting those shots felt great.”
Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC) had 14 points for the 'Birds, but was limited to jut 17 minutes of action because of foul trouble.
Cassandra Knievel (Nanaimo, BC) added 11 points and four assists.
Hilary Annich tied for the Cougars' scoring lead with nine points, though the 'Birds did a great job defensively on her, holding her to 2-13 shooting. Jordan MacLean also had nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
UBC is now assured a playoff spot at 13-4 for the season. They still have plenty to play for over their final few regular season games though, as only two games separate the four playoff-bound teams in the Pacific Division. Mount Royal falls to 5-12
The teams wrap up their series on Saturday at 5 p.m.
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