KELOWNA, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds (9-8) put up a season high point total in a convincing 82-55 rout of the UBC Okanagan Heat (0-17) Friday night in the home team's annual "Shoot for the Cure" game.
A tight first half kept the home team and the home crowd into the game but the Thunderbirds scored 53 points in the second half to run away with the contest.
The deficit may have been too large for a UBCO miracle comeback but the Heat hit four threes in the final frame to finish with a total of seven on the night, raising $350 for the U SPORTS Shoot for the Cure.
With the win, the T-Birds improve to 9-8 on the season, good for eighth in the conference while the Heat remain searching for their first win on the season.
First Half:
Scoring was sparse for the first five minutes with the visitors up 9-4 with 4:39 remaining in the first. A bucket by UBCO's Anastasia Evans closed the score to 15-10 and a counter bucket by
Keylyn Filewich closed out the first quarter with the Thunderbirds making it 17-10.
After a quick jumper by Emma Jonas to start the Heat off in the second quarter, the Thunderbirds went on to widen the gap with a seven-point run, bringing the game to 24-12 at 6:44. A Heat timeout, and two quick scores from Kate Johnson and Emma Jonas made it 24-17. Claire Feasby hit a three for the Heat as the first half was concluded with the hosts trailing by seven (29-22).
Second Half:
The third quarter saw the T-Birds go on a 14-6 run in the first half of the third. Anastasia Evans knocked down a pair of threes in the frame and UBC closed out with a 7-2 run as the third ended with a score of 58-37 for the Thunderbirds.
The fourth quarter began with UBC's
Maddison Penn scoring another three, one of four on the night, and the Thunderbirds took control for the next two minutes expanding their lead over the Heat to 67-39.
Emma Jonas and Vanessa Botteselle, would knock down back-to-back threes for the home team to cut the deficit to 22 (67-45). A pair of late threes by fifth year Shenelle Tamminen added to the Shoot for the Cure totals but Penn and Filewich combined for 47 points for UBC.
The Heat and the T-Birds will face off again Saturday night with tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m. PT in the UBC Okanagan gym.
