The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds finally got their offence rolling after struggling through the first two games of the series, but Saskatchewan's +27 rebounding advantage was too much for them to overcome, as the Huskies took game three 85-75 to win the series and advance to the Canada West Final Four.

BOX SCORE
 


Kris Young scored 31 points and the T-Birds shot 42 per cent from the field after being held to 34 per cent shooting through the first two games. But the Huskies absolutely owned the boards, grabbing more offensive rebounds than UBC had defensive rebounds for the second game in a row, leading to a 22-8 advantage in second chance points.
 
"It was two well-matched teams, and it came down to who takes care of some little things a bit better," said UBC head coach Deb Huband. "In the last two games, rebounding has been the one we really struggled with. And the free throws – I know we put them on the line at the end – but that's a lot of getting to the line for them. Scoring almost half their points at the free throw line - that's going to be a tough game to win."
 
The Huskies ended up hitting 33 of 40 free throw attempts, while the 'Birds went 14-for-17 at the stripe. Even accounting for the intentional fouls near the end of the game, the Huskies had a huge advantage getting to the line. After three quarters they had 22 attempts compared to five for UBC.
 
"I think they broke us down off the dribble and we weren't able to keep people in front of us. They have some tough, gritty kids who were able to take the ball to the hoop, and they had some success doing that at times," said Huband.
 
Kelsey Trulsrud led that effort for the Huskies, hitting nine of 10 foul shots for a team-high 23 points. She also had 10 rebounds. Dalyce Emmerson had 16 points and 14 rebounds. Desarae Hogberg added 17 points off the bench.
 
After trailing by 12 points entering the fourth quarter, UBC managed to cut the gap all the way down to 73-70 with around three minutes left after a 12-1 run. Turning up the pressure defensively led to a +8 turnover margin for the T-Birds, but it was too little too late, and the Huskies were too sharp from the free throw line down the stretch for UBC to completely erase the deficit.
 
"When you go down 10 points or whatever it is and battle back, it's a great sign, but we just let them go on too many runs and we needed rebounds at certain times that we didn't get, and they were rewarded by getting putbacks or getting to the line," Huband said. "You're going to win championships with defence, and our defence wasn't good enough today or yesterday."
 
Young led all players with 31 points on 13-for-25 shooting, tying a career high that she set on November 26, 2011 in an overtime game at Calgary. Young also had three steals, giving the T-Birds a gritty effort at both ends of the floor while playing all 40 minutes.
 
"She didn't come off the floor and she gave everything she had," Huband said. "You never like to look at the stats sheet and see one person stand out that much over the rest of the group, but Kris was really trying to lead by example and do everything she could to make a difference for the team today."
 
Harleen Sidhu was also effective when she was on the court, racking up 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and a block, but she was limited to just 23 minutes after some early fouls. Point guard Maggie Sundberg had 10 points and seven assists.
 
The Huskies advance to the Canada West Final Four, which will be hosted next weekend by the Alberta Pandas. They are also joined by the Regina Cougars, and the Fraser Valley Cascades will be the lone Pacific Division representative.
 
The Final Four runs March 7 and 8 at the University of Alberta. The conference finalists will also advance to the CIS national tournament, held in Windsor, Ontario from March 14-16.
 
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