VANCOUVER – For the fourth year in a row, the UBC Thunderbirds and Alberta Pandas will meet in the first round of the Canada West women's basketball playoffs.
UBC will host the best-of-three series this weekend at War Memorial Gymnasium in Vancouver, the site of last year's matchup that was won in two games by the Thunderbirds.
Alberta won the previous two series in 2009 and 2010, both of which were contested in Edmonton.
TICKETS /
WEBCAST
GAME TIMES (All games at War Memorial Gymnasium)
Friday, Feb. 22
6 p.m. – Alberta at No. 6 UBC
Saturday, Feb. 23
6 p.m. – Alberta at No. 6 UBC
Sunday, Feb. 24 (if necessary)
2 p.m. – Alberta at No. 6 UBC
No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds (17-5)
Last week: W 64-54 v Victoria, L 56-64 at Victoria
UBC's lineup features two of the ten highest scoring players in the Canada West. Guard
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC) was sixth in the league with 16.9 points per game. She was also ninth in rebounding (7.5 per game), sixth in assists (3.5) and seventh in steals (2.5).
Forward
Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC) had an impressive senior season, finishing ninth in the Canada West scoring race with an average of 14.9 points a game, while shooting 55.1 percent from the field. Stansfield was eighth in the conference, sandwiched in between teammates
Victoria Spangehl (White Rock, BC) and
Adrienne Parkin (Vancouver, BC).
The Thunderbirds, who finished second in the Canada West's Pacific Division, head into the post-season having won seven of their last eight games. The only loss came in the last regular season game of the year in Victoria.
UBC has won both its meetings with Alberta this season. At the Pandas HoopFest pre-season tournament in October, UBC won a close 75-72 decision in Edmonton. The T-Birds returned there on Nov. 24 and beat the Pandas 71-58 in a regular season game.
Alberta Pandas (14-8)
Last week: W 67-58, W 58-48 at Saskatchewan
Alberta is looking to continue its regular season-ending six-game winning streak. The late-season surge allowed the Pandas to move into third place in the Prairie Division. The team does not have anyone in the top 30 in Canada West scoring. But the Pandas feature an imposing front line of Anneka Bakker, Kendra Asleson and Saskia Van Ginhoven. They average 10.2, 9.5 and 9.2 points a game, respectively. They're also good for at least five rebounds each per game.
Alberta's guards are a dangerous bunch as well. Megan Wickstrom was second in the Canada West in three-point shooting, making 46 percent of her shots from behind the arc. Katie Arbuthnot leads the team with 59 assists while Jess Fairbanks had 57.
Statistically, UBC and Alberta are very closely matched. Alberta was third in the league in defence and seventh in offence while UBC was one slot lower in both categories.
Nine players on the Alberta roster averaged at least 16 minutes of playing time per game.
-30-
