VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds went 1-2 at the 2016 Darcel Wright Memorial Classic women's basketball tournament, hosted by Ryerson University in Toronto.
The team lost to the Windsor Lancers on Friday by a score of 63-57. On Saturday, the Cape Breton Capers downed the T-Birds 77-52. On Sunday, UBC rebounded with a 69-61 triumph over the Western Mustangs.
Forwards
Kara Spotton and
Maddison Penn led the Thunderbirds offensively in all three contests.
Penn had a spectacular fourth quarter against Western, scoring UBC's last 16 points to lead the Thunderbirds to the win. The Mustangs led 56-53 with 5:32 to go in regulation. Then Penn tied the game with a triple. She converted a jumper with 4:06 on the clock to put UBC ahead 58-56. With 3:05 left, Western re-took the lead with a three-point shot.
Penn proceeded to hit two three-point baskets, followed by a pair of layups and foul shot while the UBC defence gave up just two points in the same time span. The Australian outscored the Mustangs 16-5 in the final 5:32.
She made 11 of 19 field goals on Sunday, finishing with 26 points. Spotton had 14 and
Shilpa Khanna had 12.
After trailing by 11 at the half, UBC bettered Western 43-24 in the last two quarters.
Spotton led UBC on Saturday, with 18 against Cape Breton, but the team also committed 30 turnovers in the game, including eight in the first quarter, which helped the Capers build a 26-10 lead in the opening period. Penn had 17 points.
Windsor led by eight points late in the second quarter, but UBC put together a 7-0 that bridged halftime to get within a point. The 'Birds then tied the game at 37-37 on a Penn free throw. UBC trailed by one going into the fourth before Penn and
Andrea Strujic made back-to-back jumpers to put the T-Birds ahead 48-45.
Spotton finished with 12 points against Windsor while Penn had 11.
Against Windsor, the T-Birds lead 55-54 with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter after a
Keylyn Filewich jumper but the Lancers rallied to end the game on a 9-2 run to claim the win.
UBC will head to Victoria next weekend the Canada West Basketball Tournament this weekend for games against Calgary (Friday at 2 p.m.) and Regina (Saturday at 10 a.m.).
The start of Canada West league play will be on the weekend of Nov. 4-5 in Kamloops, B.C., against Thompson Rivers.
