VANCOUVER – It was a mixed weekend for the UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team, as they beat the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 75-72 on Friday night, before falling to the MacEwan Griffins 66-54 on Saturday evening. The two contests marked the end of UBC's exhibition schedule, as they now turn their focus to the Canada West season opener next week.
 
In their first game of the weekend, UBC scored the last seven points of the game to earn the victory over Thompson Rivers.
 
TRU's Emma Piggin hit one of her two foul shots with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to give her team a 72-68 advantage.
 
After Piggin missed her second free throw, Andrea Strujic (Vancouver) grabbed the rebound and then later in the sequence, made the layup to make it a one-possession game.
 
She then tied the game at 72-72 with 1:21 left, grabbing an offensive rebound off a Diana Lee (North Vancouver) miss and converting the putback.
 
On the ensuing possession, UBC forward Kara Spotton (Fort Collins, Colo.) got a steal to give the Thunderbirds the ball back. Lee then made her jumper with just over half a minute left for the game-winning points.
 
Spotton added the final point on a foul shot as UBC recorded the non-conference victory.
 
It was a back-and-forth game as TRU took a 34-23 lead in the second quarter thanks to a 16-4 run that was capped off by a long-distance bucket from Emily Vilac.
 
UBC regained the lead early in the third. Guard Cherub Lum's (Vancouver) three ball with 6:51 to go in the quarter put the hosts up 43-42.
 
Spotton's layup with a minute to go in the third made it 58-50 in favour of the Thunderbirds. It would be the largest lead UBC would hold in the game.
 
TRU closed the gap in the fourth, with Piggin making a three-point basket – one of five for the WolfPack in the quarter – to give the visitors the advantage for the first time in the fourth.
 
Lee scored 24 points to lead all players, on 10-of-19 shooting from the field. She also led UBC with five assists.
 
Spotton had 15 points while rookie guard Jessica Hanson (Vancouver) scored 13.
 
In the final game of their exhibition schedule on Saturday evening, the T-Birds fell 66-54 at the hands of MacEwan.
 
The final frame was the deciding factor in the contest, as the visiting Griffins outscored their hosts 21-10 over the final 10 minutes. MacEwan closed out the contest with authority, as they went on an 8-0 run over the last 2:22.
 
The T-Birds started out slow against MacEwan, as the Griffins opened the contest with a 14-2 run over the first five and half minutes. Behind a couple of baskets from Spotton, and a three-pointer from Kamila Wojciechowski (Burnaby, B.C.), the 'Birds stemmed the early onslaught, bringing the score to 20-11 for MacEwan at the end of the opening quarter.
 
The second frame was all UBC, as the T-Birds outscored MacEwan 20-11 over the next 10 minutes. That includes an 11-4 stretch to close out the quarter, as UBC took a 31-30 lead into halftime. Hanson and fellow freshman Krysten Lindquist (Markham, Ont.) were both instrumental in UBC's second-quarter surge, as each guard grabbed five points in the frame.
 
The two teams went back-and-forth in the third frame, with MacEwan posting 15 points in the quarter to UBC's 13. For the 'Birds, Lee took her turn as the main offensive threat, posting seven points. On the Griffins side, guard Kendall Lydon bagged five of her team's points in the quarter, including a ridiculous three-point circus shot at the buzzer, putting her team up 45-44.
 
Lee again paced the 'Birds in scoring, this time netting 13 points, while Lydon led the Griffins with 19 of her own.
 
With their exhibition schedule complete, UBC will now look their date with the Pandas, as they open the 2015-16 Canada West season with a set of back-to-back contests against their Alberta rivals on Friday, November 6, and Saturday, November 7, all part of UBC Thunderbirds Super Weekend. Both games are set to go down at War Memorial Gym, with both contests starting at 6 p.m. (PT).