LANGLEY, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds relied on stout defence while four players reached double digit scoring to pull away in the second half en route to a 70-48 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
It was an especially sweet triumph for the visitors as longtime Thunderbirds head coach
Deb Huband celebrated a significant milestone in earning her 500th career coaching victory. Huband in her 24th season as head coach of the T-Birds is the longest serving and most successful women's basketball coach in school history, and is the only Thunderbirds basketball head coach to win to three U SPORTS (formerly CIS) championships.
The T-Birds extended their own winning streak to seven straight games while improving to 10-4 while the Spartans fall to 8-6 on the campaign
On the night the Thunderbirds were the better shooting team as they finished shooting 43.1 per cent (28-65) from the field, while the Spartans struggled shooting 28.4 per cent (19-67).
Before commenting on her significant milestone, Huband wanted to first speak to her teams excellent road effort.
"It was a great win," said Huband. "We're taking steps every week and it was a very strong performance on the defensive end and I'm very proud of the growth we've shown over the past couple of months. To hold a team that averages about 70 points a game to 48, I was really happy with the total team effort."
Huband then took a moment to reflect on what 500 wins means to her.
"It's a milestone and it reflects a long career at UBC and it makes me appreciate the opportunity to do what I do. I think about all the players I've coached over the years and staffs that have been involved. You know 500 is a lot to accumulate but we did it as a team together so you start reflecting on the kids you've coached over the years and how much fun it's been to be involved in a sport that I love and have a chance to work with young people that feel the same about the sport."
Rookie forward Nicole Fransson led the Spartans with 12 points and nine rebounds, four of which were offensive. UBC had four players finish in double-digit scoring led by
Keylyn Filewich's double double that saw her register 15 points and a game high 14 rebounds, four of which were offensive. Other T-Birds that reached double digits included
Maddison Penn with 11 points and nine rebounds while
Jessica Hanson added 12 points and
Hailey Counsell chipped in with 10 pts on the evening.
In an evenly matched first quarter UBC was strong inside, while TWU's advantage was from behind the three-point line. The T-Birds' five offensive rebounds were matched by TWU's third-year guard Julia Marshall's 2-3 from the three-point line as UBC led 16-13 after 10 minutes
Three minutes in the second quarter UBC extended their lead to 22-15 by going four-four from the line. TWU responded, and after a three-point basket by fifth-year guard Jessie Brown the Spartans had cut the lead to 22-20. The T-birds finished the quarter with a 8-to-4 run to lead 30-24 at the end of the first half.
Out of the break the Thunderbirds took control of the game shooting 50 per cent (8-16) from the field, to TWU's 29.4 per cent (5-17). UBC's Filewich scored half the Thunderbird's points in the quarter as UBC outscored the Spartans 18-11 to take a 48-35 into the final quarter.
The Spartans were unable to counter the Thunderbirds shooting in the final quarter. UBC closed out the game out the game with a 22-13 advantage in the final 10 minutes to earn the 70-48 win.
Trinity Western now travels to Winnipeg to take on the University of Manitoba next weekend for Friday (Jan 18) and Saturday (Jan 19) night games. Tip off times are 4 p.m. (PT) and 3 p.m. (PT) respectively. UBC is on the road in Brandon next weekend. All games can be seen live on Canadawest.tv.
- with files from Scott Stewart Spartans Athletics
