VANCOUVER – It was a back and forth thriller that went down to the wire, and in the end it was the UBC Thunderbirds edging the Lethbridge Pronghorns 58-55 to close out the 2019 portion of the Canada West campaign Saturday at War Memorial Gym.
Leading the way for the T-Birds was
Keylyn Filewich who recorded a second straight double double with 22 points and 13 rebounds while
Jessica Hanson scored 11 points and added five rebounds.
Gabrielle Laguerta chipped in with seven points including five key scores in the final two minutes of play to secure a fifth straight win for UBC. Kacie Bosch led the Pronghorns with 15 points and seven rebounds while Jessica Haenni added 13 points in the loss.
Heading into the final frame the T-Birds were trailing 44-40 but showed character in clamping down on defence while making big shots when it counted in outscoring Lethbridge 18-11 the rest of the way. Midway through the quarter, Hanson, Filewich and Laguerta combined to score 12 straight points, giving UBC a 56-49 lead following a Laguerta three-pointer but Lethbridge clawed right back with Haenni and Bosch scoring back to back three pointers to pull within one at 56-55 with under a minute remaining. After a T-Birds timeout and the ensuing inbounds play Laguerta was fouled before hitting both of her free throws to put UBC up 58-55. That left four seconds remaining for the visitors to attempt the game tying three-pointer from Kansas Long through traffic but the effort fell short.
"I knew it was going to be a tough night as the last game in a long first term," said UBC head coach
Deb Huband post game. "Two tired teams, you could see offensively both teams were struggling in the first half and in games like that there's not a lot that separates the teams. I thought both teams battled hard and tried to fight through the fatigue, I think the game could have gone either way at the end and I'm happy the ball bounced in our favour.
Similar to the series opener on Friday night it was the Pronghorns that were in front after the first frame. This time by a score of 13-9 on the strength of Bosch's quarter high seven points. Lethbridge enjoyed an early 5-2 lead thanks to a Bosch three pointer followed by a Haenni jump shot in the key. On the other end, it was
Madison Legault setting the pace for UBC with five points in the period, including a three-point play after some effective work low in the post for the hoop and the harm which briefly put the T-Birds in front 7-5. The Pronghorns would come back to overtake the hosts by four points after one.
In the second quarter the T-Birds were much more efficient as evidenced by shooting 45 percent from the field en route to outscoring Lethbridge 22-12 and a 31-25 advantage at halftime. Leading the way for the 'Birds was Filewich who scored her first 11 points in the second quarter while Hailey Counsel scored her four points in the final minute to help UBC take a six-point lead into the break. For the visitors, it was Alexa Pobitzer and Katie Keith scoring four points each.
The third quarter saw a role reversal from the second frame as the Pronghorns came out firing and outscored the T-Birds 19-9 to retake the lead they had out of the first period, this time up 44-40. Lethbridge enjoyed some spread out scoring with Haenni, Long and Savannah McKee scoring five points each. Long especially effective late in hitting a three pointer then following up with an acrobatic right handed slicing drive down the lane to secure a four-point advantage after three.
It was the final game on the 2019 schedule for each squad, both resume play following the holiday break beginning Friday, January 3, 2020 with UBC visiting the Fraser Valley Cascades while the Pronghorns host the Regina Cougars on the first weekend of the new year.
