VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team begins the road to the Acelormittal Dofasco CIS Women's Basketball Final 8 this weekend, as they open their Canada West schedule with a pair of back-to-back contests against the Alberta Pandas.
                                                            
The 'Birds are coming off of a successful 2014-15 season, as the team finished the year with a 30-5 overall record (17-3 in-conference) and claimed the gold medal in the Canada West Final Four before earning a bronze medal at the Final 8 national tournament.
 
Leading the charge for last season's squad was a pair of fifth-year seniors, Kris Young and Harleen Sidhu. Young, a guard who was named the 2014-15 Canada West Player of the Year and a CIS All-Canadian, averaged 17.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.9 steals per contest. Sidhu was named a Second Team Canada West All-Star as a forward after a campaign that saw her post 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
 
Young and Sidhu, alongside fellow seniors Cassandra Knievel, Lauren Seabrook and Stephanie Bell, accounted for 62.6 per cent of the team's offence last season. With those five having graduated, the need for offence will start in the forward ranks, with Kara Spotton (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Adrienne Parkin (Vancouver) taking the reins from Sidhu.
 
Though she's in her fourth season of eligibility, Spotton is only entering her second season at UBC after transferring from Colorado State University. In her first year as a 'Bird, the 6-foot-2 Sauder School of Business student posted modest numbers, averaging 8.1 points per game. Seemingly the team's featured scorer, Spotton's preseason was electrifying, as she notched 20.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
 
UBC head coach Deb Huband, who is entering her 21st season behind the bench, sees massive potential in Spotton.
 
"Last year, we saw her versatility as an athlete – she brings a rare athleticism to the court. She was adjusting last year – to Sauder, to our style of play – and she still had a productive year," said Spotton. "This season, we're going to need her to step up for us in consistency, in reliability. She's probably our most natural scorer, and she has the potential to be a game-changing rebounder."
 
Parkin, entering her fifth and final campaign as a T-Bird, will be looked to as a leader on and off the court. The former Kitsilano Secondary star is the leading returning scorer from last season's squad, as she picked up 8.9 points per game.
 
"Adrienne's been here all five years, so she has the most experience of anyone in terms of the league, the systems, and tendencies of different teams. That's going to be vital for us. More than the leadership, we also expect production from her."
 
The rest of UBC's forward ranks bring a nice mix of experience and new blood.
 
Andrea Strujic (Vancouver) has proven herself an invaluable role player over the past few seasons, but that role could be set to expand this year. The fourth-year Arts major made 34 appearances last season, but averaged only eight minutes of floor time. This year, the 6-foot-3 Strujic is slated to start at the 5-spot, meaning that her usage rate should be about to spike. Ideally for Huband, her production will follow.
 
"Andrea's our tallest player, and she's very solid defensively, she's a good communicator. Where we need to see more from her is with her inside presence and establishing an inside game, while continuing to improve her rebounding."
 
Susan Thompson (Calgary), in her fourth year, and Kamila Wojciechowski (Burnaby, B.C.), in her second, will provide additional veteran depth at the forward spot, while Chelsea Hamming will look to break onto the roster after arriving as a true freshman from Rundle College in Calgary.
 
Huband doesn't think that the adjustment from high school to CIS basketball will pose too much of a problem for Hamming.
 
"Chelsea is an intelligent person and player, she's a quick study, and she's always asking smart questions, always ready to learn," said the head coach.
 
The backcourt is headlined by Huband's veteran duo of fifth-year Diana Lee (North Vancouver) and third-year Cherub Lum (Vancouver).
 
Lee comes into her second season with UBC after transferring from Boise State, where she ran the Broncos offence for three seasons. Lee led UBC in assists last season, dishing out 125 dimes across 34 appearances, and also led UBC by a wide margin in assist-to-turnover ratio, as she finished with a remarkable 4.0. This season, though, Huband wants to add another dimension to the 5-foot-7 playmaker's repertoire.
 
"Diana is a skilled, smart basketball player. Now in her fifth year and her second with us, we'd like her to score a bit more – last year, she was a great playmaker for us and handled the ball well, but this year we're looking to her to create offence for herself as well as others."
 
Lum has been a dynamic defender, and backup point guard, in her first two seasons in Blue and Gold, but heading into her third year our of York House, and her first real shot as a starter, Huband is looking for Lum to expand her role.
 
"Cherub brings a dynamic quickness to the court, and she's a very strong defensive player who helps us set our defence, " Huband said. "We want her to put pressure on opposing ball-handlers, so they're concerned about her. She's worked really hard on her offensive skills in the offseason so that we could have the freedom to release Diana into the 2-spot while she takes over the point."
 
Behind the two presumed starters, Huband has a stable of young guards ready to make an impact. Shilpa Khanna (Surrey, B.C.) is the most experienced of the bunch, as she played two seasons at Kwantlen Polytechnic University before transferring to UBC. The 5-foot-10 guard will be asked to provide some scoring from beyond the arc, as well as sound defence on the perimeter.
 
First-year point guard Jessica Hanson (Vancouver), the daughter of UBC men's basketball head coach Kevin Hanson, was a star for Little Flower Academy last season, and her easy athleticism and basketball IQ gives her mismatch potential as early as this year, and moving forward.
 
Krysten Lindquist, another true freshman, hails from Markham, Ont. An explosive athlete on the defensive end, the Bill Crothers Secondary alumna will provide some grit, as well as quick hands and a solid jumper.
 
With so many young and relatively inexperienced players on the roster, Huband readily admits that it's going to take some work to get her squad to come together. The T-Birds' 3-5 record in their exhibition schedule speaks to that. However, Huband also expects the best from the team that she and her staff have assembled.
 
"As we start to gel, our expectations are that we maximize our potential and be the best we can be," stated Huband plainly. "We have high expectations here – we're a championship team, we've maintained a high level of performance. Outside of my first five years here, where we needed to build up the program, we've been a high-achieving team, and that's what our expectations are. There's a lot of pieces that need to fall into place, a lot of work that needs to be done, but we want to give ourselves a chance to win, we want to get the most out of our players, and we want to improve every day that we step on the court. "
 
The 'Birds open league play this weekend, hosting the Alberta Pandas in a set of back-to-back games on Friday, November 6, and Saturday November 7, as part of UBC Thunderbirds Super Weekend. Both contests are set to begin at 6  p.m. (PT) at War Memorial Gym.