VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds defeated the visiting Trinity Western Spartans Friday evening 77-53 at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver. With their first win of the Canada West women's basketball season, the T-Birds improve to 1-2. The Spartans fall to 1-2.
 
Fourth-year forward Kara Spotton (Fort Collins, Colo.) was at the helm of the charge, earning 26 points in 27 minutes played. She is now tied for fourth in the Canada West for points per game with 18.7. She also claimed four offensive and five defensive rebounds to contribute to UBC's victory. Fifth-year guard Diana Lee (North Vancouver, B.C.) was second on the team in scoring with 14 points.
 
Jessie Brown scored 15 points to lead the Spartans, who also got 10 points from Tessa Ratzlaff.
 
The UBC victory was a product of defensive adjustments made during the halftime break, as the home side was up 37-35. The Thunderbirds came roaring out in the third quarter, completing an 18-4 run to take a commanding lead.
 
"Our defence really solidified for us in the second half, so that third quarter was definitely a product of that," UBC head coach Deb Huband, whose team outscored TWU 23-8 in the third. "We had some consecutive stops and limited their production so we had space to get going offensively. When you do that you get to dictate play and tempo a little bit and I think it really helped us."
 
Lee opened scoring in the third for the Thunderbirds with back-to-back jumpers to further their lead to 41-35. Spotton then had back-to-back layups, her second complemented by a behind the back pass from Lee under the net. Third-year guard Cherub Lum (Vancouver) reclaimed possession deep in TWU's zone with a steal and ran coast-to-coast to bring the War Memorial Gym to their feet to further her team's lead yet again.
 
Rookie Krysten Lindquist (Markham, Ont.) showed up big in the final quarter, opening the final 10 minutes with a steal and layup, which she followed up with a jumper from the left side. For the game, she earned 11 points – all in the second half – in her 17 minutes of play.
 
The Spartans held a lead late in the first half, nailing back-to-back-to-back baskets to go ahead 35-32, but Lee would reclaim the lead for UBC with a three-pointer from the baseline as the shot clock wound down near halftime.
 
The Thunderbirds are back in action tomorrow afternoon for a rematch against the visiting Spartans. Jump ball is at 5 p.m. (PT) at War Memorial Gym.