VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team continued their preseason with a convincing 98-23 victory against the visiting Lewis & Clark Pioneers out of Oregon State Saturday night at War Memorial Gym.
Preseason action has been rather encouraging so far as the T-Birds earned a fourth straight victory in tune up play ahead of the Canada West regular season which begins in just under two weeks.
The 'Birds relied on spread out scoring with six players reaching double digits and It was the veterans leading the way as third-year forward
Keylyn Filewich finished with a team high 16 points and seven rebounds. Fourth-year forward
Maddison Penn was just behind with 14 points and a matching seven boards while first-year forward
Tanis Metcalfe added 12 points and another 7 rebounds.
Jessica Hanson and Dina Srrujic each chipped in with 11 points while Hanson also earned a team high eight assists. For Lewis & Clark it was first-year guard Laurel Marchant finishing with a team high seven points while fellow freshman forward Delsie Johnson had a team high seven rebounds.
It was evident early in the proceedings that the 'Birds were the superior squad en route to opening up a 23-9 first quarter lead. The aforementioned Filewich set the pace for the hosts in the opening frame with a team leading eight points and two rebounds in seven minutes of playing time. Meanwhile Hanson, Penn and Strujic all chipped in with four points each for the 'Birds who shot 50 percent from the field in making 10 of their 20 shot attempts. Leading the way for the visitors from south of the border was second-year forward Tori Eichten who scored her three-points from the free throw line, making three of her four attempts.
In the second quarter the T-Birds put their defence on display in limiting the Pioneers to just three total points while shooting just over eight percent from the field in converting just one of their eight shot attempts. At the other end UBC saw Penn add another five points to her total while first-year forward
Tanis Metcalfe picked up her first four points on the evening. Showing her shooting prowess from beyond the arc was third-year guard Gabriel Laguerta who hit on her lone three-point attempt in helping the T-Birds extend their lead to 45-12 at halftime.
The third quarter saw the T-Birds outscore the Pioneers 26-6 with Filewich and Metcalfe leading the way with six points each. Fourth-year guard
Jessica Hanson hit on her lone three-point attempt of the contest and
Madison Legault added four of her 10 total points as UBC increased their lead to 71-18 to end the third quarter.
The final frame was highlighted by first-year T-Birds guard Hailey Counsel stepping up with a team high six points while Laguerta hit her second three-point attempt to remain perfect from the perimeter on the evening as UBC cruised to a 98-23 win.
"I think so far we've had a pretty successful preseason, getting better every week and having more pieces in place with a lot of teaching and learning going on with new roles and new additions," said UBC head coach
Deb Huband in recapping exhibition play to date. "I think in the first quarter we were a bit sloppy but after that I think we were disciplined in our execution both offensively and defensively which led to high quality shots and a good shooting percentage. To have six people in double figures is a nice stat, it shows you how involved we were, 32 assists on 43 field goals shows you how the team is looking for everyone to have quality shots."
The T-Birds will play just two more preseason tilts beginning next weekend at the Canada West Basketball tournament at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton beginning with a meeting against the Calgary Dinos Friday, October 19 at 1:00 p.m. The 'Birds will then meet the Lethbridge Pronghorns Saturday, October 20 for a 12:00 p.m. tip off.
UBC's Canada West regular season gets underway Friday, October 26 with the annual Courtside game, hosting the Saskatchewan Huskies at 6:00 p.m. at War Memorial Gym. The teams will meet again Saturday, October 27 with a 5:00 p.m. tip off.
