VANCOUVER – UBC was out of sync offensively all night and left it until the final minute to put the UNBC Timberwolves away. Despite a 31-25 lead at the half, the Thunderbirds were outscored by nine points in the third and were down by as many as five points in the fourth before finally pulling themselves together for a 63-60 victory, extending their win streak to five games.
BOX SCORE
The game changer may have been
Zana Williams' (Vancouver, BC) steal with just under three minute remaining. She ran the floor for an easy layup, and then UBC held the Timberwolves scoreless as
Kris Young (North Vancouver, BC) put up the game's final four points. Young was cold most of the night, making just 4 of 15 shots, but she found the basket when it mattered most, hitting three jumpers in the final four minutes to help the Thunderbirds steal back the game.
Both sides shot slightly under 40 percent, but seven players finished in double figures.
Leigh Stansfield (Victoria, BC) shared the game-high 14 points with Timberwolves forward Kady Dandeneau (Pender Island, BC). Young,
Alyssa Binns (Port Moody, BC), and Emily Kaehn (Hixon, BC) each had 12, while
Victoria Spangehl (White Rock, BC) and Mercedes Van Koughnett (Prince George, BC) added 10 apiece. In a relatively even rebounding context, several of these women (Young, Spangehl, and Dandeneau) came just one board shy of double-doubles.
It was a slow start in the first quarter with UNBC playing great defence but unable to take much advantage on offence. UBC didn't get their first lead of the night until Binns sank a jumper with three minutes into the second quarter.
Maggie Sundberg (Mansfield, CT) banked a layup at the buzzer to put UBC up six at the half, which turned out to be their largest lead in the game.
The fact that the Thunderbirds struggled against a Timberwolves defence that is typically very weak is concerning. The Timberwolves came into the weekend at 6-12 this season and realistically shouldn't have caused much trouble for the Birds. They got lucky tonight as this one easily could've slipped away from them and threatened their push for home court advantage in the playoffs. They'll need to refocus when the two teams duke it out again tomorrow night so that they get some confidence going again before closing out the regular season with two critical games against Victoria next weekend. Tip-off for tomorrow's rematch is at 5 p.m. in Prince George and will once again be streamed live at
www.canadawest.tv.
